


Terms and Conditions Apply

by babiemarkie



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Bedroom Sex, Bottom Mark Lee (NCT), Coming Out, Consent is Sexy, Dom/sub Undertones, Domestic Fluff, Explicit Sexual Content, Fingering, First Time Blow Jobs, First Time Bottoming, Friends With Benefits, Getting Together, Idiots in Love, Kink Negotiation, Light Angst, M/M, Miscommunication, Partying, Rimming, Top Lee Donghyuck | Haechan, communication is sexy too, kinktober day 29: pwp, kinktober day 30: day 29 was a lie this has way too much plot, mark just wants to be dicked down okay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-30
Updated: 2020-10-30
Packaged: 2021-03-09 06:07:20
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 22,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27279973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/babiemarkie/pseuds/babiemarkie
Summary: Donghyuck doesn’t know what he was expecting Mark to say, but it certainly wasn’t a request like that.“Did you not hear me?” Mark finally looks up at him, quirking an eyebrow.“So you’re serious?”“Deadass,” Mark replies, monotone.Mark asks Donghyuck for some help with a rather intimate favor and, as expected, it goes absolutely disastrously.
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee, future norenmin if you REALLY squint, nomin if you squint - Relationship
Comments: 25
Kudos: 666





	Terms and Conditions Apply

**Author's Note:**

> i started this fic in the middle of march. god knows why it took me this long to finish it. (it was also supposed to be longer and significantly more angsty but i was never gonna finish the story if i kept it that way... so just know that between the night that they first did it and the scene of the morning after, there's supposed to be about six months worth of denial and friends with benefits bullshit that they go through that i was too lazy to write. do with that what you will)  
> tl;dr here’s another way too many words about markhyuck having sex. do i have regrets? yes. am i going to hell for this? probably. is that going to stop me? absolutely not.
> 
> for anca (thanks for sticking with me through this whole awful process. lo mein is just as much your baby as it is mine.)  
> for twt users @kkoljohda and @earfond, for supporting me behind the scenes even when i didn't know it

All things considered, the week starts off normally for Donghyuck. Mondays are terrible, which is nothing out of the ordinary, but the warm sunshine that wakes him up in the late morning reminds him kindly that he has to be up for lecture soon. His alarm does the same thing a few minutes later when he dozes off again, albeit considerably less kindly.

When he finally drags himself out of bed, he doesn’t even bother to check for his roommate. He knows Mark is long gone, which isn’t abnormal. While Donghyuck’s classes aren’t until a bit later, Mark is a masochist who told his swim coach that he could run early morning weekday practices since he’s the university varsity swim team captain, and then speeds off to his morning lectures the moment he gets out of the locker room.

Donghyuck will never understand how motivated that man is in the mornings.

Personally, as a co-captain of the varsity soccer team, he would never subject his boys to such treatment, and chooses to have late afternoon training sessions once the peak heat of the day has passed but the sun is still up — something multiple of his exhausted, non-morning-person teammates have thanked him for.

Unfortunately, he doesn’t have the luxury of lazing around right now because it’s Monday, meaning he has lunch with Mark in the dining hall nearest the science building at noon. It’s one of the few times in their busy lives that matched up well enough to create a routine for the two of them, and Mark wouldn’t hesitate to strangle Donghyuck if he missed it because he overslept. With the looming threat of disappointing Mark to power him along, he drags himself out of bed to get ready for the day. 

Donghyuck’s glad he doesn’t have a long morning routine like Mark does, otherwise he’d never get anywhere on time. Perks of being blessed with less-acne-prone skin, which Mark curses him out for at least once a week while he makes Donghyuck rub toner onto his cheeks and forehead. Time together, no matter how it’s spent, is still time together, so Donghyuck doesn’t mind in the slightest.

He’s on the verge of being late when he finally skids into the dining hall and, unsurprisingly, finds Mark already sitting down at their usual table, lunch untouched, scrolling through his phone. He never starts his meal until Donghyuck is there with him, and on the rare occasion that Donghyuck’s there before Mark, he returns the favor. He doesn’t even know how it started, but it makes his heart do something funny in his chest whenever he sees it.

He grabs his food of choice as fast as he can — lo mein with extra beef and veggies — and plops himself down in the seat next to Mark, making him look up in surprise before it fades into a smile.

“Hey,” he greets.

“Sup,” Donghyuck replies, unzipping his backpack to pull out the calculus notes he hadn’t gotten around to finishing the night before. “You mind?”

“By all means, go ahead, slacker,” Mark jokes, dodging the punch that Donghyuck sends at his shoulder for that.

Mark’s not in a particularly talkative mood today, but he seems okay when Donghyuck sneaks glances at him over his textbook. The purple that’s taken up permanent residence beneath his eyes seems to have receded a little, actually, and the leftovers that Donghyuck leaves in the fridge with Mark’s name on them have been periodically disappearing. He’s been doing a better job of taking care of himself recently, and it makes Donghyuck’s heart swell a little bit, just knowing that he’s helping.

As much as they try to spend what time they can spare together, Donghyuck appreciates that they don’t always have to speak to each other, and can just enjoy each other’s company while being in the same vicinity while not asleep. It’s almost disgustingly domestic in a way that their friends never miss an opportunity to comment on, but Donghyuck honestly couldn’t less.

Unfortunately, the world has deemed Donghyuck can’t have nice things today and the peace comes crashing down around him in the form of Mark clearing his throat pointedly enough that it drags Donghyuck’s attention away from his work.

“Oh, yeah, Hyuck, I meant to ask you something the other day,” Mark says, wiping off the grease from his burger onto one of the limp brown napkins from the dispenser between them.

“Yeah? What’s up?” Donghyuck answers, only half paying attention because he’s busy trying to not spill his noodles onto the calc homework he has laid out on the table in front of him.

“Would you top me?”

Donghyuck swears some of his lo mein comes out of his nose with the force that he chokes. He doesn’t know what he was expecting Mark to say, but it certainly wasn’t _that._

“What the _fuck?”_ Donghyuck eloquently replies, snatching a napkin to wipe the bit of sauce that he spluttered out, just barely having missed the edge of his notebook. He glares over at Mark, who doesn’t pay him any mind, just popping a fry into his mouth calmly and continuing to scroll through Tumblr like the hipster he thinks he is. “Mark Lee, I swear to fuck what the _hell was that?”_

“Did you not hear me?” Mark finally looks up at him, quirking an eyebrow.

“So you’re serious?” Donghyuck closes his calc notes with a flourish — he’s not going to get anything productive done over lunch, not when this is happening.

“Deadass,” Mark replies, monotone. Donghyuck nods numbly, still reeling, trying to wrap his head around the whole thing.

“What brought this on?”

“It’s Jaemin and Jeno’s fault, really,” Mark says, either uncaring or oblivious to Donghyuck’s crisis just a couple feet over. “They were over studying at the apartment the other afternoon while you were at practice and they got on the topic of sex — you know, how they always do — and they were talking about how switching can really spice things up, especially since Jaemin used to top Jeno all the time apparently — which is wild because I would’ve pinned it the other way around — and I think it just piqued my curiosity, you know?”

“They fuck like rabbits, Mark,” Donghyuck reminds him with a scoff. “I don’t think there’s anything in the book that those two lovebirds _haven’t_ tried. Besides, they’re in a romantic relationship so it’s different.”

“I’ve just…” Mark trails off, turning a little pink and shrugging helplessly. “I’ve only ever topped before and they both kept singing its praises so I’m interested… you know… for science.”

“For… science…” Donghyuck repeats slowly, as though a repetition of the words will help them sink in. It doesn’t.

“You know you don’t have to, right? If you don’t wanna do that with me for whatever reason, that’s completely chill and there won’t be any hard feelings,” Mark assures, putting his phone away. The moment he finishes speaking, he chomps down on a fry to hide his visibly growing embarrassment.

“In summary,” Donghyuck says pointedly, leaning back in his chair so he can gesture at Mark with his chopsticks. “You want me to fuck _you_ — my _best friend_ — because our other idiot friends talked about sex in front of you?”

“Well… no.” The blush spreads from the apples of Mark’s cheeks to the tips of his ears. “I actually asked about it.”

“What?” Donghyuck clicks his chopsticks in Mark’s direction. “Why? What prompted the question? And to _them?_ You know pegging is a thing, right?”

“I was just… curious? And _yes,_ I know pegging is a thing, trust me, Yeri won’t shut up about it when we run together, but that really isn’t what I’m into. And as for why I told them, I really wasn’t sure about…” Mark goes quiet again after his rambling, unable to finish his sentence, all previous notions of nonchalance gone.

“That’s bullshit.” Donghyuck purses his lips. “You can’t lie to me.”

“I…” Mark falters, suddenly looking extraordinarily uncomfortable as he wraps his arms around his torso. “You know what? Forget it, Hyuck. It’s not important,” he mumbles, moving to grab his plate and stand. Donghyuck catches his wrist before he can get too far, though.

“Look, if you don’t want to tell me, that’s fine. I’m just worried, that’s all,” Donghyuck says softly. “This isn’t like you.”

“It’s fine.” Mark waves him off, but the smile he pastes on is devastatingly fake. “It was just one of those stupid, passing thoughts. Don’t worry about it.”

“Mark, come on,” Donghyuck sighs, rubbing his thumb along the inside of Mark’s wrist, feeling for the bracelet just past the cuff of his sweatshirt — the one that’s identical to the one that Donghyuck has clasped over his own wrist. “If you’re this worked up about it, it’s not a stupid thought.”

Mark just shakes Donghyuck’s hand off, withdrawing into himself. Donghyuck hates the way he can see Mark’s walls build up when their gazes meet, how Mark looks so hurt and broken and Donghyuck doesn’t know why.

“I’ll see you back at the apartment later,” he mutters, collecting his things and speeding away from the table as fast as he can, leaving a confused Donghyuck sitting alone in the dining hall, mind scrambling to try and figure out what the hell just happened.

♠

_“Lee!”_ A shout rings out across the pitch, successfully scaring the living daylights out of Donghyuck and almost making him trip over the soccer ball he was poised to kick.

He whips around to see the familiar figure of his co-captain storming across the field, looking more filled with rage than Donghyuck has ever seen his tiny little body possess — and that’s _counting_ the time when Donghyuck saw Renjun slide tackle someone completely illegally after they’d murmured some nasty words to him under their breath in the middle of a game. Renjun’s toting his backpack with him, which means that he came straight here from lecture and, by extension, that Donghyuck is in huge fucking trouble right now.

“Fuck is up, Huang,” Donghyuck greets, more as a vague statement acknowledging his presence than an actual question. He turns back to where he has some cones lined up to run some drills, his ball resting at his feet.

“What the hell was your problem today?” Renjun stomps over to him, stealing the ball right from between his legs. “You were distracted for all of practice, and then you bolted right after? And Yukhei said you didn’t show up to your physics lecture? Now you’re here, practicing when the sun’s about to set? Dude, what the _hell?”_

“I’m fine,” Donghyuck assures, but even he can tell how unconvincing he sounds.

 _“Bullshit!”_ Renjun yells, and Donghyuck startles backward at the volume. “Since when do you skip out on prof Qian’s class? And practice late? Who are you and what have you done with my idiot friend Lee Donghyuck who would rather die than miss physics because he loves it and hates practicing alone because he said it’s less effective?”

Renjun winces as his words echo around the empty pitch, and Donghyuck raises a slightly amused eyebrow.

“Are you going to tell me what’s bothering _you?”_ Donghyuck asks in return. “You said it yourself that anger doesn’t solve problems.”

“Nope, you can’t turn this around on me.” Renjun waves a finger at him. “This is about you.”

“What do you want to know?” Donghyuck asks, unceremoniously plopping down on the grass and lying down, patting the ground next to him, inviting Renjun to lie down next to him. In true Renjun fashion, he ignores Donghyuck and opts to sit down, splaying his legs out over Donghyuck’s chest and resting back on his palms. 

“Everything,” he says, as if it’s that simple. It’s not.

Donghyuck tries his best, though, replaying through his conversation with Mark over lunch as best he can. His face twists into an ugly mix of a frown and a pout when he talks about it, or so Renjun points out. When he finishes, Renjun is silent for a long moment, staring up at the pinkening sky contemplatively.

“Honestly?” he starts after a long moment. “I don’t get it.”

“Oh thank _fuck_ because I don’t either, and—”

“No, you idiot,” Renjun huffs, digging his heel into the soft part of his stomach a little harder than necessary. “I don’t get why you’re making such a big deal out of this. You wanted to experiment when you first came out of the closet, too.”

That little comment stops Donghyuck short.

The realization that he is a terrible person, and an even more terrible friend hits him like a penalty kick to the bridge of his nose.

“Mark came out to me?” Donghyuck asks quietly.

He supposes he deserves the way Renjun really _does_ kick him for that one. He rolls away from Renjun’s feet so he won’t be sporting any more hideous bruises in the morning than he already is.

“You’re an asshole, Donghyuck,” Renjun scoffs, getting up to glare at Donghyuck, who is now lying face-down in the grass, knees pulled up to his chest and hands tugging at his hair.

“I know!” he yells, voice muffled by the ground. Renjun’s gentle hands pry Donghyuck’s fingers from his own hair before he can really do any damage to himself. “I thought he was straight! Seriously! He’s only ever hooked up with girls before! And now you’re telling me Mark Lee, the guy who we’ve joked about being our token straight friend, is _gay?”_

“Donghyuck, Hyuck, chill out, oh my _god,”_ Renjun groans, pushing Donghyuck so he rolls over onto his back so he can loom menacingly over his face. “He’s probably not gay, dumbass. You know, there are things in between, like bi and pan—”

“I literally _am_ bi,” Donghyuck monotones. Renjun ignores him, powering on.

“—but I’m not going to pretend like I ever know what’s going on inside that boy’s head. If you want to know, go ask him. And apologize while you’re at it, would you? That was a real dick move.”

“I didn’t even _realize,”_ Donghyuck croaks. The hurt he’d seen in Mark’s eyes earlier makes so much sense now, the way he’d reacted, the way he’d left in such haste because he thought Donghyuck didn’t accept him. “I’m gonna talk to him later, I’m just gonna finish some drills and—”

“Nope, you’re going to go get him right now,” Renjun declares yanking Donghyuck up from the ground by the elbow. “I’ll clean this up, but you need to go fix your other mess.”

“It’s fine, Jun, it’ll just be an hour or two—”

“Imagine what Mark is feeling right now, Donghyuck.” Renjun lowers his voice, and Donghyuck has never been so terrified of his co-captain in his entire life. “He just tried to come out to his best friend who he expected comfort and empathy from, and he put himself out there by making a request, both of which were shot down by you whether you meant it or not. He’s devastated right now, and he gets self-destructive when he feels alone like that. You remember what happened just before summer after freshman year.”

That’s all Renjun has to say for Donghyuck to grimace terribly at the memory.

He and Mark had the biggest argument in the history of their friendship that summer, Mark bringing up the idea of moving back to Canada for the rest of college because of a rather lucrative offer from a prestigious swimming program there. He doesn’t remember the details of the argument, but Donghyuck remembers him telling Mark that he wasn’t wanted here anyway before storming out of the apartment, remembers how Mark had isolated himself from the rest of the world because of those few words.

It was a consequence of the sheer trust he held in Donghyuck because he’d believed those stupid, venomous, and untrue words with every fiber of his being.

Mark didn’t eat or sleep; he distanced himself from all of his friends, throwing himself into his studies and swimming because that’s all he thought he had left. Mark and Donghyuck had already been sharing an apartment at the time, so Donghyuck _knew_ that Mark wasn’t taking care of himself, but he’d been too stubborn and prideful and scared to do anything about it. He’d watched Mark literally destroy himself that month, and that guilt still eats away after all this time, even though Mark has long-since forgiven him.

Sometimes, when Donghyuck closes his eyes, he’s thrown back to one of the worst days of his life: the dreaded swim meet at the end of that month against their rival university, just a few weeks before — from what Donghyuck thought at the time — Mark would leave for Canada.

He’d shown up to support Jaemin, using that as his excuse when people asked him why he was there. The bit of a cold war between Donghyuck and Mark wasn’t exactly a private affair — something they’d learned to laugh about with time.

He remembers the pride that swelled up in his chest when Mark broke the pool record for the 200 IM, swimming the absolute shorts off of everyone else in that pool. He remembers how his stomach dropped down into his shoes as he watched the frenzy on the pool deck after the finish of the race, how Mark’s head went under the water and didn’t come back up.

Jaemin, who’d been celebrating just moments before, had jumped into the water to pull Mark back up to the surface because he’d passed out. Heart in his throat, Donghyuck had rushed down from the stands and to the main deck, uncaring of any consequences, so he could get to his best friend and press fingers to his pulse, gripping his cool hand tightly because the bastard was still breathing after giving Donghyuck the scare of his life.

They’d talked things through that evening, Mark finally getting the chance to say that he wasn’t going to take the offer and Donghyuck finally pulling himself together for long enough to apologize profusely for acting out the way he did to make Mark feel like he’d been so alone.

“Earth to Donghyuck?” Renjun snaps his fingers in front of Donghyuck’s face, stopping him from reliving that month all over again in his head. “Go get him.”

“I don’t know where he is,” Donghyuck starts. Renjun just gives him a look. “Ah, the pool. Right, of course. Thanks, Jun!”

“Don’t thank me,” he calls after Donghyuck, who’s already jogging away, scooping up his bag on the way. “Just fix this!”

Donghyuck would’ve run straight across campus then and there to the pool facilities if he wasn’t still wearing his cleats. With a huff of annoyance and never quite stopping walking, he hops around just enough to tug his cleats off and slide his sneakers on before taking off again, uncaring of how the laces aren’t tied. Mark is more important than his shoelaces.

Thankfully, as expected, Donghyuck finds Mark exactly where he expected him to be: swimming laps in the main pool, no one else there. Privileges of Mark being as good as he is, Donghyuck supposes. He pushes the door open, immediately hit by the sticky humidity and the potent smell of chlorine that always seems to permanently cling to Mark’s skin no matter how much he showers. Donghyuck doesn’t know how he can stand it.

Wrinkling his nose, he makes his way down the stairs that bring him to the main deck. He walks up to the edge of the pool and sits down just before the ledge there, knees pulled up to his chest and hands looped around the front of his shins, bag dropped off somewhere behind him.

He waits for Mark to notice him in his own time, knowing how finicky Mark can get about his practice getting interrupted, but it doesn’t take long. On the next length back that Mark takes from the other side, he slows down finally, paddling over with his head above the water. Donghyuck can’t really tell what expression he’s making because his eyes are still hidden behind the reflective plastic of the goggles.

Mark reaches the ledge of the pool, panting. Without even thinking, Donghyuck reaches back to grab his own water bottle from his discarded bag, handing it to Mark. He accepts it with a nod and takes a few heavy gulps before finally taking the goggles off of his face, leaving them resting around his neck. 

“Why are you here?” Mark squints at him, and Donghyuck can’t tell if it’s because he’s skeptical or if it’s just because he’s blind as a bat without any corrective lenses. Probably a bit of both.

“I came here to apologize,” Donghyuck replies, sucking up his pride and getting straight to the point. Mark raises an eyebrow, putting his arms up on the ledge to rest his chin on them.

“Apologize for what?” It’s not mocking; Mark’s genuinely confused about what Donghyuck has to apologize about. That stings just a little bit more than anticipated; Mark is so used to being torn down at this point that he can’t even consciously tell when it’s happening.

“For how I acted earlier at lunch…” Donghyuck trails off, peeling off Mark’s swim cap so he can run a hand through his hair — something that calms both of them down. “I should’ve taken you more seriously. You were willing to be vulnerable with me and I was stupid and I hurt you, regardless of if I meant to or not, I did. You never ask about these things so suddenly unless they’ve been on your mind for a while, and I didn’t take that into account either, and _oh fuck_ your sexuality? I’m such an asshole for disregarding that whole thing and—”

“Donghyuck, it’s fine—” Mark tries to butt in, but Donghyuck holds up a hand to stop him.

“No, it’s not. I, of all people, know that it’s not okay. You know how my parents were with that, how my entire family took it. I know what it’s like to not be accepted, and I know that no matter how much you may love a person, you resent them just as much for not loving and accepting you back, and the last thing I want is to be one of those people for you.” Donghyuck takes a deep breath. “It’s not fine and I’m so sorry. If I could take back the way I acted at lunch, take back the things I said, I would do it in a heartbeat.”

“It’s not entirely your fault,” Mark says, putting a hand on Donghyuck’s knee. Neither of them mind how the water soaks into his skin, saddling him with the scent of chlorine for the next day at best. “I shouldn’t have asked you anyway. And that was a terrible and very unclear way of coming out to you.”

“There’s no terrible way of coming out.” Donghyuck hesitates; Mark cocks an eyebrow. He wisely amends his statement, “Well, there _is,_ but that wasn’t. You’re fine. I’m proud, anyway.”

“Aw, thanks.” Mark gives him a cheeky grin. “I think I’m bi. Maybe pan. Still trying to figure out the label, but _definitely_ not straight, and _definitely_ into guys. And girls. And everyone. Ugh, gender is stupid and people are hot, you feel?”

“So does that mean I’m hot?” Donghyuck teases, not expecting Mark to lick his lip and cock his head.

“I mean…” Mark trails off, getting this sly smile on his face that makes Donghyuck want to turn his own skin inside out in a good way, if that’s possible. “I’d give you a five.”

Donghyuck gasps, “Only a _five?_ Out of what?”

“That’s a secret.”

“You wouldn’t settle for anyone less than an eight in your bed, and given that you asked me to—”

“You’re right. I won’t settle. Offer rescinded then.” Mark sticks out his tongue, scrunching up his nose. Donghyuck makes an offended noise, reaching down to flick water at Mark.

“Maybe I can’t tap your ass, but I can still beat it.”

“Ooh, kinky.” Mark grins. Donghyuck glares at him.

“You have ten seconds to run before I strangle you.”

Mark, forgetting he’s in the pool for a moment, flails around as if trying to run. Donghyuck nearly keels over into the pool with laughter, tears blurring his vision as Mark scowls up at him unhappily, crossing his arms over his chest. He’s trying to hide the smile that’s already blooming across his lips, though, and Donghyuck knows that they’re okay.

They’ll always be okay.

♠

Somehow, Donghyuck manages to let the whole incident with Mark fall to the back of his mind as the days progress. His workload increases, both on and off the field. Practices go longer, essays pile higher, free time grows scarce. He sometimes goes days at a time without seeing Mark, despite living in the same apartment. 

Mark wakes up earlier, is out all day for classes, the tutoring sessions he runs, and club meetings, and is in his room by the time Donghyuck comes home. The only clue as to whether he’s actually still alive is that groceries keep disappearing at a rate that only a varsity swimmer can manage, only to be replenished with a “sorry” on a sticky note the day after. It’s adorable, but it doesn’t make up for the fact that Donghyuck misses his best friend.

It’s not until after midterms are over — and a week post Mark coming out on his Instagram via a picture of him swaddled in a pink, blue, and purple flag the caption _“bi, bi, bi,” —*NSYNC, 2000_ that he forced Donghyuck to take for him — that things lighten up enough for Jaemin to forcibly drag him out of the apartment and into some house party not too far off campus. Some friend of a friend of a friend posted the address on their snapchat story, and less that fifteen minutes later, Donghyuck finds himself standing at the front door of a party he doesn’t really want to be at, dressed in ripped jeans and a shirt that’s unbuttoned to Jaemin’s standards — which is to say, Donghyuck has nearly half of his chest exposed — regretting all of his life decisions.

“Lighten up, Hyuck,” Jaemin complains, nudging his shoulder as he opens the door, and the bass of the music thumps through the soles of Donghyuck’s shoes. “It’s not like Mark was going to be home tonight anyway.”

Ah, his excuse when Jaemin showed up at his apartment door. Complaining that he can’t go to the party because he wants to hang out with Mark, only to receive a text that very moment, saying that he won’t be home until late tonight and to not worry. 

“It was just an excuse, nothing more,” Donghyuck grumbles, hoping the music masks his complaining. It doesn’t.

“Just try to have a good time?” Jaemin begs, intertwining his fingers with Donghyuck’s, dragging him through the mass of people in what he can only assume is the direction of the kitchen. “You know like half of campus anyway. I’m sure you’ll be able to find people to hang with—” He turns back, a dangerously mischievous glint in his eye— “people to get laid with…”

“Jaem!” Donghyuck protests. “No!”

“No, what?” a voice pipes up from behind them, and Donghyuck startles into the sturdy chest of one Lee Jeno, captain of the rugby team, resident campus sweetheart, and Donghyuck’s childhood friend. Donghyuck doesn’t have to turn around to know that Jaemin’s already making heart eyes at him. It’s frankly disgusting, how in love those two are.

“Hyuck doesn’t want to get laid,” Jaemin whines.

“Well, I think that’s a first,” someone snorts, and Donghyuck can’t help but jump again as Renjun materializes out of the crowd. How his friends manage to do that will be beyond him until the end of time.

“Jesus Christ, give a guy some warning, would you?” Donghyuck clutches at his chest dramatically, making a show of trying to calm his breathing. Renjun just shoves him with one hand, the other wrapped around a White Claw. Donghyuck pointedly looks from his questionable alcohol choice to his face, and Renjun just flips him off, taking another sip.

“Anything interesting going on around here?” Jeno asks, shuffling around Donghyuck to stand behind Jaemin, resting his chin on his shoulder. Donghyuck notices how Renjun proceeds to take an unnecessarily long drink, averting his eyes.

“Other than Yukhei flailing around on the dance floor and Yangyang dealing bad weed near the pool, not much,” Renjun offers, eyes still glued to some fixed point on the other side of the room.

It doesn’t take a genius to understand what’s going on, and Donghyuck certainly isn’t one, but he’ll deal with his co-captain’s unfortunate love life when they’re both sober.

Jaemin chokes, “Yukhei? You mean _Wong Yukhei?”_

“Yeah?” Renjun glances back at him. “What other Yukhei is on campus?”

“Isn’t he the guy that you said you think is cute?” Jeno tilts his head a little bit, the crown of his head pressing up against Jaemin’s cheek. It would be cute if Renjun didn’t look so uncomfortable.

“I, uh…” he trails off, looking around again. “Sure.”

Donghyuck grimaces. This is getting worse by the second, and as much as he loves Jaemin and Jeno to bits, they’re both a bit too dense to understand what’s going on.

“Hey, Injun, wanna show me where the drinks are?” Donghyuck nudges him, and Renjun has never looked so relieved since the time Donghyuck managed to sneak in the winning goal in stoppage time during the semifinals last year, securing them a spot in the finals.

“Yeah, yeah,” he breathes out. “See you two around.” He waves at them briefly before scurrying off into the crowd, dragging Donghyuck behind him, an iron grip around his wrist. 

“That was a shit show,” Donghyuck points out, spotting the table full of unopened beer bottles. “You ever gonna tell them?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Okay.”

Renjun looks at him weirdly. “That’s it? Just an ‘okay?’ You’re not gonna push it?”

“Do you want me to?” Donghyuck asks, snatching one of the IPAs and popping it open on the side of the table with minimal struggle. The beer is uncomfortably warm, but it’s better than being sober.

“No…” Renjun frowns.

“Then I won’t.” Donghyuck shrugs easily, leaning back against the wall, watching Renjun carefully. “But I’m here for you if you need anything.”

“Oh. Thanks, Hyuck.” It seems to take him aback.

“I got you.” Another sip. The room gets a little warmer.

They’re never been the type of overbearingly supportive friends, their friendship taking on a more tough-love route when it comes to anything from studying to soccer, but it’s worked well for them. There are times, though — times like this — where Renjun needs to know, straight up, no pretenses, that regardless of how long he’s known the other two, he’s here for Renjun first right now.

“You seen Mark recently?” Donghyuck asks, changing the subject. He means it in the way of asking if Mark seems okay because he and Donghyuck haven’t spent a lot of time together recently, but Renjun doesn’t take it that way.

“Oh, yeah, he was talking with Jaehyun by the pool last time I checked. Looked a bit tipsy already.”

Donghyuck nearly drops his beer. “He’s _here?”_

“He didn’t tell—?” Renjun starts to question before scoffing and cracking open another White Claw he snags from the counter. “Of course he didn’t tell you.”

There’s something to unpack in that last bit, but Donghyuck isn’t sure he wants to do that right now. If he remembers, he’ll revisit it later. Preferably when he’s sober.

“By the pool?” Donghyuck asks, but he’s already moving away from Renjun toward the door to the backyard before he gets a response. His chest tightens up when he slips out onto the patio and Mark isn’t in sight immediately.

Mark actually showing up to a party means he’s in need of blowing steam off, which usually results in Drunk Mark. Drunk Mark has an unfortunate tendency to have no inhibitions and a ridiculous competitive streak, which means that if anyone dares him to do _anything,_ he’ll do it in the name of pride alone. Usually, Donghyuck’s there to keep Drunk Mark in check when things are on the precipice of getting out of hand, but that’s not the case today, and the worry burrows down into his stomach, beginning to gnaw away at his insides.

It doesn’t subside when he finds Jaehyun alone at the edge of the pool, jeans rolled up to his knees, feet dangling in the water as he stares off into space. Donghyuck can smell the weed on him before he can see the red tinge of his eyes.

“Jae,” Donghyuck starts, crouching to put a hand on his shoulder.

“Are you an angel?” Jaehyun looks at him, dimples deepening as his smile widens. “I think angels are cool.”

“Jaehyun, I’m looking for Mark. Do you know where he is?” He tries to be clear in his enunciation, hoping that somehow his point will get across.

“Oh! Angel boy!” Jaehyun lights up. “Mark likes angels too! He was talking about them and… hey… where’d he go?” Jaehyun looks around him slowly, confusion overtaking his smile. “He promised me he’d talk about angels more…”

Jaehyun’s frown is just a little too heartwrenching for Donghyuck to handle looking at so he rubs Jaehyun’s back comfortingly while scanning the rest of the backyard in hopes to find any sign of Mark. His search proves fruitless in that specific respect and finds himself very close to just getting up and searching manually when Yukhei materializes out of the crowd, brows furrowed, wringing his hands.

“Yukhei!” Donghyuck calls, waving a hand, and the relief that spreads on Yukhei’s face when he sees him is palpable.

“Donghyuck, you’re here,” Yukhei groans, rushing over. “Mark’s drunk and I lost him and I’m really worried because… well, you know how he gets.” He runs a hand through his hair. “I last saw him around the porch, but then I swear I just _blinked_ and he disappeared and—”

“Yukhei, Xuxi, dude it’s okay.” Donghyuck straightens up, touching Yukhei’s elbow lightly. “I’m sure he’s fine, just probably embarrassing the shit out of himself. It’s not your fault.”

Yukhei sucks in a deep breath and Donghyuck doesn’t even realize that he had been trembling until he stops. “Okay, okay. Mark’s fine. If you say so but…” He trails off, worry etching itself back onto his face in lines that age him.

“I’ll go find him if you stay with Jaehyun to make sure he doesn’t drown himself by accident?” Donghyuck offers, shrugging.

“Deal,” Yukhei agrees, giving him a grateful smile.

“Oh! Are _you_ an angel?” Jaehyun pipes up from his perch at the side of the pool. He pokes at Yukhei’s calf, gazing up at him in wonder. Yukhei looks to Donghyuck in panic, but Donghyuck just salutes him before scrambling out of there as fast as he can. Jaehyun on weed is something he’s only heard stories about having to deal with, and he’d like to keep it that way.

The crowd thickens as Donghyuck pushes his way back inside, eyes straining through the dim, colored lighting to try and spot Mark. The throng of people seems determined to make it difficult, so Donghyuck grows frustrated, retreating back to the kitchen where he started with Renjun, who’s no longer there. He files a mental note away to talk to him later, maybe ask if he wants to grab lunch sometime, just the two of them.

His train of thought is interrupted when he catches a glimpse of a discarded, doodled-on shoe in the middle of the staircase, and he damn-near stops breathing. He rushes forward, ducking through the maze of bodies, barely remembering to scoop up the shoe as he takes the stairs two at a time. The fear ringing through his system dulls everything else out, afraid that Mark’s gotten himself into a situation so far already that Donghyuck won’t be there in time to stop it.

That fear is only mildly quelled when he spots Mark, but immediately spikes again when he takes in the context of their surroundings.

Some guy — that Donghyuck doesn’t recognize but is at least a head taller than him — has Mark pinned against one of the doors, mouth pressed against the skin of Mark’s neck. Mark’s limbs seem to be moving sluggishly, fingers bending slowly around the curve of the man’s shoulders, not necessarily pulling him closer or pushing him away, just keeping him there.

Donghyuck feels like he’s going to vomit as he storms forward and grabs the guy’s shirt, nearly throwing him off of a dazed Mark. His shirt is half-unbuttoned and untucked from his jeans, unclasped belt hanging in its loops around his waist, now sporting faint bruises on the column of his throat, lips spit-slicked and eyes hazy. 

“Wha— oh, Hyuckie…” Mark murmurs, eyes fluttering. “Mmm, ‘s cold.” He lets his body tip from resting against the door to suddenly putting all of his weight on Donghyuck. “Was having fun,” he continues. “Why’d it stop?”

“Shit, Mark,” Donghyuck exclaims as Mark wraps his arms around his neck, making them both stumble a little bit. He looks around to see that the guy has disappeared, and it’s just him and Mark standing in the upstairs hallway, wrapped around each other. “Let’s get you home, idiot,” Donghyuck whispers, pressing his lips to the crown of Mark’s head, hands reaching down to re-clasp his belt. He hates how he notes that Mark is still soft in his jeans, hates the relief that runs through his system that Mark’s body knew better than Mark’s brain.

Mark hums in what sounds like agreement, but he can’t actually be sure. Either way, he doesn’t put up a fight when Donghyuck guides him down the stairs. They manage to make it out the front door with only minor casualties consisting of an elbow to Donghyuck’s side and a slosh of warm beer to Mark’s shirt. Yukhei nearly plows them over there, and has to steady himself on Donghyuck’s shoulders to keep all three of them from falling down.

“You found him! Yuta came to chill with Jaehyun so I came looking because I was getting worried and… _oh.”_ Yukhei seems to take in Mark’s state, his brain clearly making the right connection. “He didn’t… he wasn’t… no one had—”

“No, Yukhei, he was fine. Just a bit of kissing in the hallway upstairs. Nothing happened,” Donghyuck assures. Yukhei lets out a shaky breath, biting his lip. He looks back at Mark, expression unreadable.

“I get worried about him,” he says finally, reaching forward to button up Mark’s shirt to a slightly more prudent level, glancing at Donghyuck. “You can get him home or do you need a ride? He caught one with me on the way over.”

“Nah, I drove, and I’d bet my new Mercurials that Jaemin’s gonna go home with Jeno tonight.” Donghyuck waves him off. “You should go home and get some rest, Yukhei. You look exhausted.”

“So do you,” Yukhei laughs a little, prodding at the space just beneath Donghyuck’s eyes before his smile fades into something a little more contemplative. “He’s lucky to have you, you know. Lucky to have someone who cares so much.”

Donghyuck frowns, wanting to ask more about what Yukhei means, but as soon as the moment comes, it passes. Mark slumps further into Donghyuck’s side as Yukhei backs up, a sunny smile back on his face.

“See you ‘round, Hyuck!” he calls before walking off around the corner of the house to the backyard again, dodging discarded solo cups and forgotten shoes. Speaking of, Donghyuck realizes only now that he’s still holding Mark’s other shoe and he sighs. This really wasn’t how he wanted the night to go, but he knows that it was a very good thing Jaemin dragged him out here tonight.

Hauling Mark to the car isn’t that big of a task, and neither is getting him into the apartment building, but he hits a bit of a road bump when Mark makes a beeline from the front door to Donghyuck’s room completely of his own volition. Granted, he stumbles into a wall once or twice while Donghyuck sets their shoes down and tosses the keys in the bowl on the counter, but by the time Donghyuck looks back up, Mark’s wandering through the doorway to Donghyuck’s bedroom.

“Mark…” Donghyuck groans, following him in, only to find him giggling and lying crosswise on the bed as he wraps himself up in Donghyuck’s sheets, clothes still on, socked feet wiggling in delight.

“Hyuck!” he laughs. “Look, I’m a mummy!”

“Uh-huh,” Donghyuck muses. “Now get out of my bed and go be a mummy in your own room.”

“Hmm…” Mark hums, looking at Donghyuck with a mischievous smile. “No.” 

Donghyuck sighs, amused, knowing that it’s not worth the fight. He’ll always give in to Mark anyway, so there’s no point in having the argument. What matters now is that he’s safe and happy back home and not in a drunken and nonconsenting stupor under some guy who won’t know any better while he takes advantage of Mark. The mere thought of that makes Donghyuck kind of want to cry. He hopes that he hides the shaky exhale well enough, unbuttoning his shirt and tossing it in the hamper next to him.

“What’s taking you so _long,”_ Mark whines from his bundle of blankets. “C’mere.” He reaches his arms out of the sheets, clenching and unclenching his hands in Donghyuck’s direction, trying to grab him from halfway across the room. Donghyuck’s eye catches on the bracelet around his wrist, hanging there easily like it doesn’t know all of the pain it causes him. Donghyuck eyes his own matching one a little distastefully.

“I’ll be right there, dumbass,” Donghyuck retorts, but it’s muffled as he pulls a sweatshirt on over his head. It’s not until he’s cuddled up next to Mark that he realizes it’s one of Mark’s favorite sweatshirts, and he honestly has no idea how it ended up in his closet. It’s not like he’s particularly mad about it, though.

Mark twists under the blankets, nestling himself into Donghyuck’s chest, breath soft on the side of Donghyuck’s neck. It’s comfortable like this, Donghyuck finds with no shortage of pain in his heart. The pain only worsens when he feels Mark’s lips press carefully to the underside of his jaw, too slow and deliberate to be an accident.

“Mark?” Donghyuck grumbles.

“You have stars on your skin,” Mark wonders aloud, reaching a hand up to trace across the column of his neck, down to his collarbone where the neckline of the sweatshirt is stretched out. “I was wondering what stars tasted like.”

“You’re such a fucking lightweight, hyung,” Donghyuck sighs, halfheartedly pushing Mark’s face away from the crook of his neck. “Go to sleep, dork.”

Mark hums in reply, wrapping his arms around Donghyuck’s middle and pulling him close. Donghyuck can feel their jean-clad legs bump against one another and winces because of how uncomfortable Mark is going to be in the morning. Mark’s calm and content where he’s snaked his arms inside of Donghyuck’s sweatshirt to press his cold fingers to the rigid line of Donghyuck’s spine.

“You’re warm,” he mumbles breathily, and Donghyuck has to force himself not to flinch away because of how it tickles the side of his throat. “I love…” He trails off, not finishing his sentence as he finally succumbs to the exhaustion that’s been chasing him since the beginning of the day.

Donghyuck, however, stays up for another two hours, trying desperately not to think about what the end of that sentence might have been, about the warm affection Drunk Mark shows him so shamelessly, about how desperately in love with Mark he is.

♠

It’s cold when Donghyuck wakes up, the warmth from last night dissipated into the haze of the overcast, late morning sky peeking through the curtains as he blinks his eyes open. Mark is gone, the indent in the mattress where his body had been not quite gone, but no longer warm. 

Despite Mark’s physical absence, Donghyuck can still spot signs of his lingering presence in his bedroom. Namely the opened dresser drawer of Donghyuck’s sweatshirts that was rifled through, Donghyuck’s phone actually plugged in on the nightstand, and a post-it on top of it that simply says, “I’m sorry.” Mark signed the little yellow slip with a tiny frowny face and a hastily scrawled “M” as if Donghyuck wouldn’t have known who it was from.

Donghyuck huffs out a laugh, shaking his head as he moves the note from on top of his phone to stick on the side of his alarm clock so he can check the time. It’s a quarter past nine, meaning that Mark left for his morning lecture over an hour ago, and knowing him, he didn’t take anything for the raging headache he probably has before he left.

He wants to text Mark, to ask if he can drop some ibuprofen by his lecture hall so he can make it through the rest of his packed schedule today, but he’s worried that Mark might not want to see him. The worries are, admittedly, childish and unfounded, but that doesn’t make them any less prominent in Donghyuck’s brain.

As a consequence of the apprehension, Donghyuck leaves his phone on his nightstand without even unlocking it, deciding that he needs to shower first. The jeans he never changed out of last night are wrinkled and uncomfortable, and he desperately needs to wash his hair and shave.

He caves after a measly twelve minutes, the concern for Mark coming out victorious in the raging battle in his head against self-preservation, and he nearly sprints out of the bathroom, towel around his waist, to shoot Mark a text.

**hyuck “the rock” johnson | 9:34 a.m.  
**yo  
you need some ibuprofen?  
i can drop some by your lecture if you want

He almost hopes that Mark won’t reply so he won’t have to face him until later, so he’ll have some more time to mentally prepare. But when his phone vibrates again when Donghyuck is fully dressed and munching on a bagel in the kitchen, his feeble hopes are dashed as Mark’s contact pops up on his lock screen. He groans but opens it anyway.

**mark lee johnson | 9:40 a.m.  
**yes please  
my head really said fuck mark lee lives  
:(

It’s the sad face hastily sent at the end that really does Donghyuck in. He groans once again for good measure, then finishes the rest of his bagel in one bite. In the ten minutes it takes him to deem himself a presentable human being for the outside world, he realizes that he’d do just about anything for Mark. He realizes that, somewhere along the line, he fell in love with his best friend, and now he has to suffer the consequences of having a weak resolve and even weaker heart.

With nowhere else to turn, he fires off a text into the groupchat with his three closest non-Mark friends, hoping that they aren’t still asleep or too hungover to reply. Donghyuck’s about to be in the middle of a full-blown crisis, and he’ll only get self-destructive if he’s alone, so he calls an emergency meeting. He gives himself a pat on the back for forward thinking.

**jeno is a sore loser**

**hyuckleberry finn | 9:50 a.m.  
**we have a code 127  
i repeat  
code 127

 **renjuly | 9:51 a.m.  
**i get out of class in 8 minutes  
my place?

 **jaeminnie mouse | 9:52 a.m.  
**omw from library  
eta 10 if i run  
which i will

 **sore loser | 9:54 a.m.  
**packing up at gym asap  
will b at jun’s in 15

Donghyuck tries to blink back the glossy haze over his vision when he reads that his friends will pull together their shit for him today. He tucks his phone away so he can actually look at where he’s going as he crosses campus, backpack hanging off his shoulders, the one earbud he has in blasting bubblegum pop on nearly full volume.

The nice thing about Mark is that he doesn’t tend to fade to the background in things — at least not for Donghyuck. He’s always front and center: the brightest smiles, the loudest laughter, the biggest gestures. He’s a guy who’s hard to miss, although some of that does have to do with Mark’s friends all being really tall for some godforsaken reason. 

Donghyuck spots Yukhei first, and then Mark by extension because they’re never too far apart. Mark’s waving him down from outside the science building, calling his name, “Donghyuck! Hyuck, over here!” How that boy doesn’t get embarrassed by the odd looks given to him will never make sense to Donghyuck.

He returns Mark’s enthusiasm with a rueful smile and a pointed shake of the ibuprofen container in his hand. Donghyuck tries desperately not to pay attention to just how unfairly pretty he looks right now with his dark curls tucked under a backwards snapback, his round, wire-framed specs nearly sliding off the bridge of his nose, oversized hoodie bunched up at his elbows that Donghyuck’s actually reasonably sure is _his_ which makes it even _more_ attractive— 

“You’re a lifesaver, Hyuck,” Mark says when he gets closer, no longer bouncing on his toes. Yukhei has disappeared in the time that it took Donghyuck to cross the quad, and it gives him a chance to inspect Mark a little more closely than he would otherwise, fingers gripping Mark’s chin to tilt his face side to side.

Mark’s exhausted; the darkness beneath his eyes and the halfhearted, upward quirk of his mouth make it clear. His gaze travels just over Donghyuck’s shoulder, and a bit of light returns to his eyes. Donghyuck drops Mark’s face to follow his line of sight. In the middle of the quad, he spots a group of Mark’s friends congregated around one of the picnic tables in the grass, chatting away and horsing around. He recognizes most of them, but can only put a name to a few.

Yukhei, who has rematerialized and is currently holding Dejun in headlock, looks up at that exact moment and waves, grinning brightly. Donghyuck returns the gesture with a bit less fervor, earning a few calls of “Hey, Donghyuck!” from some of the others. Jaehyun’s there too, along with Yangyang, both looking a little worse for the wear. Donghyuck tries really hard to not find that too amusing.

“They’re more excited to see you than they are to see me,” Mark muses, and Donghyuck turns around to see nothing but amusement on his face as he flips his friends off.

“That’s not true and we both know it,” Donghyuck laughs, unscrewing the pill bottle to shake out three into Mark’s waiting palm.

“You’re the literal best, you know that?” Mark sighs happily, before hesitating; he looks up at Donghyuck sheepishly. “I don’t suppose you have a water bottle on you? I can’t—”

“You can’t take pills dry otherwise you’ll choke and die, yeah, I know,” Donghyuck recites, grumbling. He swings his backpack off and roots through it, feeling around until he finds what he’s looking for and pulls it out: a bottle of green tea. He’ll never admit that he always carries one around in his backpack for Mark, but it’s worth the weight of lugging it around when he sees Mark positively _light up_ at the sight of his favorite drink. 

Donghyuck is stupidly, hopelessly endeared by it. A reminder of why he sent that emergency text to his friends.

Mark, oblivious to the veritable storm brewing in Donghyuck’s head, takes the tablets with a swig of his tea, brightening up in an instant even though the ibuprofen hasn’t kicked in yet.

“Thanks again. I don’t know if I would’ve made it through the day without this.”

“Yeah, I got you,” Donghyuck laughs, but it dies off quickly. “Hey can I ask you something?”

“Always.” The reply is easy, Mark’s eyes reading nothing but sincerity. It makes Donghyuck’s gut twist.

“How much of last night do you remember?”

Mark promptly turns red and ducks his head down. “Not much.”

“Mark.”

“I’m serious.”

“You’re a terrible liar.”

The blush spreads to the tips of Mark’s ears and he fidgets with his fingers. “Most of it.”

“You can’t give consent when you’re drunk, Mark. You know this.”

“I know.” Mark looks like a kicked puppy, but Donghyuck isn’t letting him off the hook yet.

“Then why’d you do it? You could’ve stayed sober, you know. You aren’t exactly the type of person who would struggle to get laid.” Donghyuck pokes at Mark’s irritatingly defined pec for emphasis. Mark bats him away, still blushing.

“I just… I wanted to try but I just…” He runs a hand over his face, embarrassed and regretful and ashamed. “I didn’t mean to get drunk, but I’ve just been so curious and I really _do_ want it but I was nervous and…”

“Jesus, Mark,” Donghyuck chastises, pinching the bridge of his nose. “If you really wanted to be fucked that badly, you could’ve just talked to me.”

“I did, remember?” There’s a sharp edge to Mark’s voice that wasn’t there before, but it’s more aimed back at himself than at Donghyuck, as if scorning himself for even trying. Donghyuck winces.

“And I’m sorry that I reacted the way I did. You deserved so much better, and I messed that up. You revoked your offer back at the pool, so I’m giving you an official one. Right here, right now.”

“Say it.” Mark’s nearly breathless all of a sudden, eyes alight with something Donghyuck can’t identify.

“Huh?”

“I want you to spell it out so I can be a hundred percent sure that I know what you mean, and there’s absolutely no room for miscommunication,” Mark says.

“Alright, then.” Donghyuck straightens up a bit. “I’m giving you a standing offer that I’ll fuck you—” Mark sucks in a breath— “and you can cash it in whenever you want, however many times you want. Terms and conditions apply, side effects may include, blah blah blah,” Donghyuck drones, shooting Mark a withering look at his excitement. “Happy?”

“Extremely.” Mark pulls out his sunniest smile, making Donghyuck roll his eyes.

“Yo, Mark, you coming?” Yukhei hollers, and Donghyuck whips around to see that the entire group has grown restless waiting for them. Mark has the decency to look guilty that he’s been making them wait while he talks about his sex life with his roommate.

“Go on,” Donghyuck urges. “I have places to be, too.”

“See you later, Hyuck. Thanks for everything!”

Before Donghyuck can blink, Mark’s leaning forward to plant a kiss on his cheek, dashing away without looking back. He raises a hand to his cheek, turning to watch Mark go rush over to his friends to receive pats on the back, letting them shove him around a bit for making them wait, but it’s all in good fun. Mark has this huge, idiotic grin on his face as Yukhei slings an arm around his shoulders and they start off.

Good.

Mark deserves nothing less than to be accepted and loved and cared for, and Donghyuck’s truly happy that he has a group of friends who do just that. It’s not quite enough happiness to drown out the burn of jealousy rising in his chest, but it dims down a bit at least. He doesn’t realize that he’s just been looking where Mark and his friends disappeared around the corner a minute ago with his hand still on his cheek until his phone buzzes. He pulls out his phone to check the missed messages from the groupchat that linger at the top of the lock screen.

**jeno is a sore loser**

**jaeminnie mouse | 10:01 a.m.  
**injun open up

 **renjuly | 10:02 a.m.  
**i’m not there yet  
hold on you heathen

 **jaeminnie mouse | 10:02 a.m.  
**the ice cream’s gonna melt if u don’t hurry tf up

 **renjuly | 10:03 a.m.  
**IM HURRYING HOLD ON

 **sore loser | 10:11 a.m.  
**oi jaem  
injun  
open up  
wait fuck u already brought ice cream  
i didn’t check the gc before  
well now we have more

 **jaeminnie mouse | 10:12 a.m.  
**hyuck  
hyuckleberry mf finn  
where you at

 **renjuly | 10:12 a.m.  
**istg this boy

 **sore loser | 10:13 a.m.  
**HYUCKKKKKKKKKKKKK  
WHERE U ATTTTTTT  
HYUCKKK  
DONGHYUCKKKKK  
HYUCK!!!!!

 **hyuckleberry finn | 10:13 a.m.  
**jesus i’m omw

 **sore loser | 10:13 a.m.  
**HYUCKKKKKKKKK  
oh wait hi  
u replied

 **renjuly | 10:14 a.m.  
**got an eta?  
i can’t be alone around these idiots too much longer

 **hyuckleberry finn | 10:14 a.m.  
**b there in 3  
coming from science hall

 **renjuly | 10:14 a.m.  
**we have monster’s inc, ice cream & popcorn  
also tissues and blankets  
it’s all waiting for you  
so get here asap

 **hyuckleberry finn | 10:15 a.m.  
**omwwww  
can’t run 2 fast w/ tears in my eyes  
<3

 **jaeminnie mouse | 10:15 a.m.  
**UR CRYING?????  
IM COMING TO GET U RN  
JENO’S COMING TOO

 **sore loser | 10:16 a.m.  
**#SHOOTERSFORHYUCKLEBERRY MOVE OUT  
WE R COMING FOR UUUUUUU

 **renjuly | 10:16 a.m.  
**they really just barreled out the door  
who tf are these boys idk them  
hyuck get ready for an armful

♠

Precisely a week, four days, ten hours and twenty-seven minutes later, there’s a knock on the door of the study room Donghyuck signed out so he could get some peace and quiet to work on one of his lab reports. He looks up to see Mark peeking in the window, a small smile on his face. Donghyuck turns away from his computer to beckon him in.

Mark pushes open the door, but doesn’t walk in. Instead, he just stands awkwardly on the threshold, hands fluttering at his sides, shifting his weight between his legs. Despite his stance, he says his next words with his whole chest, coating them in all the confidence he can probably muster.

“I want you to fuck me.” He pauses, considering. “Now.”

Donghyuck blinks. “Now?”

Mark nods jerkily. “Now.”

“What brought this on?” Donghyuck asks, not moving. Mark shuffles his feet a bit.

“I just kinda… decided I want it. You said I could cash in any time,” Mark points out, apprehension and worry bleeding into his voice.

Donghyuck takes a deep breath before turning to close his computer. His lab report can wait; he’s ahead of where he needs to be anyway.

“Okay,” he relents. “Okay, let’s do this.”

“Oh. Cool!” Mark crosses the room in four easy strides — Donghyuck curses his long legs for the millionth time — and stands between Donghyuck’s knees, crowding him into his chair. Before he can lean in, though, Donghyuck presses a finger to Mark’s lips with a giggle.

“Not here, doofus.”

“Ah.” Mark turns pink, confidence stepping aside to make way for mortification to settle in as he glances back at the open door to the study room, probably realizing people could’ve overheard everything he just said. “Right. Our place, then?”

Something about the way he says that so easily, “our place,” makes Donghyuck’s chest grow warm. He can’t afford to focus on that now, though, so he hums and shakes his head.

“Not yet. We have to make a pit stop first,” he explains, shoving his belongings into his backpack. He scoots his chair back and stands up, only just now realizing how close he is to Mark.

“Pit stop?” Mark cocks his head, so adorably confused. “I have, uh—” he coughs— _“supplies_ back home, if that’s what this is about.”

“Nope.” Donghyuck leads the way out of the room, hitting the light on his way, trusting Mark to follow him. “You know how I said that terms and conditions apply?”

“Yeah…”

“Well this encompasses just that.”

It’s funny how he can almost hear how hard Mark is thinking about this, trying to decipher exactly what Donghyuck is planning without asking out loud. He doesn’t ask where they’re headed, just diligently walks beside Donghyuck out of the building and down the road. He can tell the exact moment when Mark realizes where they’re going because his eyes light up and his stomach grumbles. The reaction is almost Pavlovian, when Johnny’s Malt Shop comes into view. Donghyuck laughs, and Mark just grins back.

It’s the best food anywhere on campus, hands down, aside from the little ramen shop just a block or two away. Not only that, but it’s their comfort food place, where they go together to get a little cheering up or just to spend some time together.

"Since I dragged you out here, I'm buying," Donghyuck says, already pulling out his wallet as Mark holds the door open like the gentleman he has this terrible habit of being around Donghyuck. "The usual?"

"Uh... yeah, might as well." Mark shrugs, already making his way over to their usual corner booth. They've both tried everything on the menu before just because they've been here so much, but they have their favorites, which is what they tend to get when they come here on a whim like this. "I'll be trying plenty of other new things tonight, right?"

Mark seems to have completely lost his brain-to-mouth filter tonight, which is a feat given how articulate he usually tends to be. Red splotches bloom on his cheeks, making Donghyuck laugh, patting Mark on the shoulder before gently shoving him in the direction of the booth.

"Go sit down, Mark," he chuckles, watching Mark purse his lips as he walks away, as if to forcibly keep himself from saying anything else.

The kind, middle-aged man who runs the shop recognizes Donghyuck as he approaches the counter. It's a glaring sign that they come here too much, that they spend too much of the money in their already-thinned college wallets at this diner, but Donghyuck's perfectly content to keep ignoring that sign.

"Good evening, Donghyuck," he greets, already punching something in on the register. "The usual for you and Mark, I assume?"

"That'd be great, John, thanks."

They exchange other mindless pleasantries as the transaction goes through and Donghyuck tucks his card back in his wallet, briefly mourning the loss of what could've been a new pair of shin guards. He slides into the other side of the booth, across from Mark so they can face each other, and they sit quietly, but not awkwardly, waiting for the food to arrive.

It ends up arriving quickly, John giving Mark's hair a ruffle before he disappears back up to the front to help other waiting customers. Thankfully, they're secluded enough in the back corner that no one bothers them, and they dig in without another word. Mark's in a familiar yet neutral setting, and he looks a lot less tense than he had before: the sharp line of his shoulders slumping into something more relaxed, the soft furrow between his brows smoothing out as he sips on his vanilla malt.

Donghyuck needs Mark to calm down and feel comfortable with things before he can do what he came here to do: talk. They need to talk about exactly what this is and sort out the details before they actually can get into bed. It's more for Mark's comfort than anything else, even if he doesn't really notice he needs it yet, but Donghyuck's sanity needs this, too.

As they finish up, Mark wiping the last of the grease from his fries on his napkin and Donghyuck slurping up the last of his cherry-chocolate shake, Mark clears his throat.

"As much as I loved the pit stop and the free food, what's the reason you brought me here? What does this have to do with terms and conditions? Are these the terms and conditions?" Mark's so full of questions, his mind running as fast as his mouth as he tries to wrap his head around this. Donghyuck smiles to himself, pushing his plate to the side and folding his hands together over the table, looking Mark straight in the eye.

"We need to talk about this like adults before we get into anything. Set some ground rules, make sure that you're really going to be comfortable with everything we're about to do, give you a rundown of the basics on how this is going to work."

"Okay." Mark swallows hard, nodding, nervous fingers doodling in the excess condensation that his vanilla milkshake glass has left on the table.

"And I'm gonna need you to be honest with me. Give me straight answers—"

"Straight?" Mark snorts, and the anxious atmosphere dissipates with that single joke.

"Not great word choice, I see that now," Donghyuck giggles, not seeing the point of having to keep up the serious façade anymore. It's just two best friends discussing how one of them is going to be fucking the other in not too long. Nothing stressful about that. Not when one of them is secretly in love with the other and the feelings aren't reciprocated. Nope. Nothing anxiety-inducing in the slightest about that. "Just.. give me honest answers as best you can. Cool?"

"Cool." Mark relaxes back, tapping his fingers on the table, but keeping his body language open.

"Have you ever tried any kind of anal before?"

Mark seems to immediately forget what he just agreed to, blushing furiously as he hides his face in his hands.

"Donghyuck!" he whines, hushed but scandalized. He peeks out from between his fingers to look around, seeing if anyone else was close enough to their booth to have heard that. No one was; Donghyuck checked.

Donghyuck sighs, slumping a bit in his seat. This boy is so lucky that Donghyuck is stupidly in love with him, otherwise Donghyuck might actually get annoyed. Unfortunately, all he feels is inescapably endeared, so he scrounges up the patience to wait out Mark's embarrassment, sitting quietly until Mark calms down enough to take his hands away from his face and look Donghyuck straight in the eye again.

"We've gotta talk about this, Mark. I need to know what I'm going into so I can make sure that one, I don't push you further than what you're ready for, or two, you don't end up getting hurt, or three, that you get any less out of the experience than you walk into it wanting. This is for your benefit." He ticks off a finger for each statement, and Mark seems to collect himself a little more with every one.

"I know, I know, I'm just... not used to talking about it so brazenly, I suppose." Mark's gone back to tracing patterns in the water on the table, but it keeps him a little less on edge, so Donghyuck doesn't stop him. "I've... tried a finger before? I was in the shower and it—" Mark shrugs helplessly— "it wasn't all that great? I don't know."

"If it wasn't that great, why do you wanna bottom so badly?" Donghyuck asks, and it's a serious question.

"Well, uh, Jaemin and Jeno make it sound so good... and so does… uh… porn. I think I was doing something wrong, anyway," Mark laughs a bit as he rushes through his words, trying to ease his own awkwardness to minimal effectiveness.

"Fair enough," Donghyuck concedes, checking off a box on his mental checklist of questions to get through. "What do you like during sex? Well, more importantly, what _don't_ you like during sex? What are your limits?"

"Oh, wow, um..." Mark shrinks into himself a bit, looking around. He's flailing, drowning out of his depth here, and Donghyuck's having a bit too much fun watching the possible one time in his life where he's going to see Mark so out of his element. "I don't know? I don't exactly... get around a lot, Hyuck. I don't have the time. Or the energy. Or the place."

"So you don't know what you like during sex at all?" Donghyuck gives him an incredulous look, appalled. "Mark are you still a virgin? Honest question."

"What? No!" Mark hisses lowly, leaning across the table. "Fuck you, I've had sex before. One of the first things I said to you on this subject was that I'd only ever topped before."

"Hey, I had to ask!" Donghyuck defends, holding up his hands, failing to hold in the laughter that bubbles up his throat. Mark looks deeply offended that Donghyuck can find it within himself to laugh right now, but it's too entertaining not to.

"I disagree that you had to, but whatever." Mark draws a frowny face in the condensation, but won't make eye contact with Donghyuck.

"Hey. Don't hold anything back just because you think it's embarrassing. It's important for your safety, and it's important to me." Donghyuck neglects to voice that it's important to him so he can make Mark feel the best he's ever felt, some feeble cover-up that he wants Mark to come back for more after tonight. “I promise I won’t make fun of your kinks later. What you say here, stays between us.”

"I have this thing about control, I think," Mark starts carefully, gauging Donghyuck's reaction.

"You like to have it?" Donghyuck takes a shot in the dark, fitting the image easily of the Mark he knows, the strong, capable leader, with taking charge in bed without a problem. It's certainly not a turn-off.

"Ah, the opposite, actually," Mark divulges carefully, gauging Donghyuck’s reaction. "It's nice to give up control, to not have to make decisions or have responsibility... and I think that's really what drew me to bottoming in the first place? Like I know switches and verses are a thing, but when it comes to what I want—"

"You don't have to try and back up your arguments with evidence, Mark," Donghyuck assures when Mark starts to falter. "I just wanted to know the facts. Don't worry about justification. So, control. Anything else?"

"Nothing in particular, I don't think." Mark smiles a little. "Haven't had the time to experiment, really."

"Alright, so we'll keep things pretty vanilla then, perfect," Donghyuck sums up. "Is there anything you're uncomfortable with? Limits?"

"Nothing too weird." Mark scrunches up his face. Donghyuck wonders exactly what he's picturing. "Just stick to the basics for this, I think."

"Sounds good," Donghyuck agrees, nodding. "That's all I need from my end, I think."

Mark gives a shaky exhale, the small smile on his face growing a little bigger as he stares Donghyuck down from over the top of his empty milkshake glass, sliding it to the side absently.

"Okay, great," he says, breathless all of a sudden. "Can I kiss you now?"

"Please do," Donghyuck invites, moving to get up from the booth, but Mark impatience beats him out before he can move. Mark nearly lunges over the table, reaching forward to cup Donghyuck's face with his hands, pressing their lips together with every bit of force he can muster. It knocks Donghyuck's head back against the padding of the booth for a moment, but then he's returning the force, keeping them in the middle as he tangles his fingers in Mark's hair.

He doesn't really know what to expect from kissing his best friend for the first time, but he certainly doesn't expect it to be this good. Mark finds the perfect angle for their lips to slot together, and as he swipes his tongue along Donghyuck's lips, asking for him to open up, Donghyuck can't help but wonder how much practice he's had and where he's gotten said practice. Mark's mouth is soft and warm, still tasting sweetly of his vanilla shake. Donghyuck can't get enough of it, but he also needs air, so he reluctantly pulls back, pushing weakly at Mark's shoulders to get him to stop chasing Donghyuck's lips long enough for him to catch his breath. He curses Mark's swimmer's lungs for the thousandth time in his head, but he’d never give Mark the satisfaction of saying anything of the sort aloud.

Mark has one knee on the table between the booths, his other leg dangling off the front edge with the tips of his beat-up, doodled-on converse high-tops barely braced on the black and white checkered tiles of the flooring. Donghyuck remembers making most of those drawings, but he's sure that Yeri and Ten are equally guilty when it comes to the vandalization that plagues the previously-pristine white fabric. Mark says that he doesn't mind, that it gives them character whenever they gain a new signature or sketch, and Donghyuck thinks that's just about the cutest thing in the world.

It's only just a little less cute than the boy himself, whose eyes sparkle with something Donghyuck can't quite name, a grin spreading from ear to ear as he cradles Donghyuck's face between his palms like it’s more precious than Mark himself, which it's not.

Maybe Donghyuck can't call Mark his for real, but he's going to do everything he can to call Mark his for tonight. And maybe, just _maybe,_ if everything goes just right, Mark will call him his right back.

Donghyuck has to physically hold Mark back from sliding the rest of the way across the table to seat himself forcibly in Donghyuck’s lap. He tries to let himself believe that he’s stopping Mark on account of the other people in the diner who could spot them at any moment, but it’s mostly because he knows Mark, and the moment Mark sets his mind to something, he doesn’t stop until it’s finished. As much as Donghyuck’s almost disappointingly eager to fuck the breath out of Mark, he doesn’t want to ruin their longstanding good relationship with John.

Mark has the audacity to _pout_ at Donghyuck when he guides Mark’s shoulders away so he can catch his breath. Donghyuck has to laugh because if he doesn’t, he’ll just spill his entire heart to the boy across the table.

“Sorry, Aquaman,” he pants, grinning. “Gimme a second to catch up.”

Mark slouches back in his seat, but his smile is genuine when he meets Donghyuck’s eye. 

“We’ve gotta take this back home sooner versus later,” Mark says, fingers tapping at the base of his milkshake glass.

“Oh?” Donghyuck raises an eyebrow, heart rate returning back down to less astronomical levels. “Why’s that?”

Mark leans forward conspiratorially. “Because I’m going to take you right over this table if we don’t.”

Donghyuck grins, mirroring Mark’s position so their noses are almost brushing. “As much as I’d love that tremendously, the deal is that I get to fuck _you_ tonight,” he whispers, relishing the way Mark’s breath hitches in his throat.

The walk from Johnny’s back to their apartment takes about twelve minutes — Donghyuck would know, he’s timed it — but it ends up taking closer to twenty because they can’t keep their hands off each other. They push each other up against sides of buildings, alleyway crevices, and lampposts just to kiss the living daylights out of each other, wandering fingers creeping up under shirts and settling around curves to keep each other close.

By the time they actually stumble into the apartment, stifling their giggles into one another’s mouths, Donghyuck’s sure they both look like disasters: hair ruffled, shirts untucked, lips swollen.

Mark clumsily toes off his shoes and tosses his keys onto the counter before turning to Donghyuck, eyes alight. He links fingers with Donghyuck and nearly drags him to his bedroom. Donghyuck only realizes this when instead of soccer posters up on the walls, there are science diagrams and a signed swim cap from some dude Donghyuck can never remember the name of but Mark looks up to so much it’s kind of adorable.

While Donghyuck looks around, brushing the tips of his fingers over the frets of a guitar resting against the wall, he realizes that he hasn’t spent enough time in Mark’s room to familiarize himself with it. Although he’s sure the sentiment goes both ways, Donghyuck really can’t help but feel like he’s discovering more sides of Mark as he sees the dinosaur-print sheets peeking out from under the dark green duvet on his bed.

“What are you laughing at?” Mark asks without turning, busying himself with something at his dresser.

“I didn’t know you were a such a hardcore stegosaurus fan,” Donghyuck muses, flipping back the covers to get a better look at the pattern.

“Well it’s not like we were gonna do it in _your room,”_ Mark scoffs.

“Huh?”

“You’re not fucking me with the gamer lights on,” he deadpans, still turned around, and Donghyuck cracks a smile, creeping closer until his hands find home on Mark’s — _tiny,_ he notes mournfully — waist. There’s not really much of a defense that he can put up for that jab, so he busies his mouth with biting kisses onto the side of Mark’s neck instead.

Mark’s knees almost buckle beneath him, but between the support of his forearms on the dresser and Donghyuck’s hands on his hips, he manages to stay upright. It takes one tug at the hem of Mark’s shirt to get him to yank it off, turning around finally to reveal the little bottle of lube and the foil clenched in his hands.

Donghyuck opens his mouth to say something witty about preparation, probably, but Mark gives a little wide-eyed gasp before turning back to the dresser for just a moment and pulling his phone out of his back pocket in the same motion. Before Donghyuck can ask why, a little beeping sound echoes through the room, followed nearly immediately by some sultry, vaguely familiar bass line of a song. He raises an eyebrow even though Mark can’t see him, still fiddling with the speaker.

“You certainly came prepared,” Donghyuck muses, crossing his arms.

“That’s more than you can say,” Mark retorts, spinning around to wrap an arm around Donghyuck’s waist, pulling their bodies flush together. “Sex in silence is just weird.”

“Maybe,” Donghyuck concedes. “But what if I want to hear you?”

Mark’s grip tightens, a shiver traveling up through his body, but he doesn’t give in. “Then too bad.”

Everything’s hot, all of a sudden, almost _too_ hot. They’re both all over each other, and despite the frantic discarding of layers, the heat doesn’t die down as they pull closer, craving to touch bare skin to bare skin.

Mark then has his palms pressed to Donghyuck’s bare chest, and spares no strength as he shoves him backwards onto the bed. Donghyuck lays back and opens his arms to welcome Mark down with him, grinning and kicking the covers to the side as Mark crawls on top of him to kiss him again, deep and hot. 

It doesn’t last long, though, but Mark doesn’t pay Donghyuck’s frown any mind once he pulls away, simply kissing the corner of it lightly once more before moving his lips down. He makes a trail from the line of his jaw to his neck and chest, taking care to suck harshly in the places he knows where Donghyuck’s sensitive, where the hard lines of muscles soften out into gentler curves. He mentally swears payback, but doesn’t have the chance to iron out the details because Mark kisses carefully over the button of Donghyuck’s jeans, belt long-since discarded on the other side of the room.

“May I?” Mark peers up at him, hesitating for the first time that whole evening out of nerves instead of embarrassment.

“Mhmm,” Donghyuck hums, nodding. He can’t really figure out how to form any coherent words right now.

Mark smiles brightly and does his little happy-Mark-wiggle, and the juxtaposition of that followed immediately by him pulling down Donghyuck’s fly with his goddamn _teeth_ is enough to make Donghyuck stifle a groan. Brushing his lips over the jut of Donghyuck’s hip, Mark shimmies the denim and the briefs beneath down Donghyuck’s thighs and tosses the offending clothes off the side of the bed without a second glance.

Donghyuck realizes, again, that his best friend is really hot. If he wasn’t already head over heels, it might actually be irritating. The heavy bass in whatever song is playing rumbles through his chest in agreement.

There’s a beat of silence where Mark stares at Donghyuck’s cock, half-hard and flushed, lying on his thigh, as if considering how to go about getting it in his mouth. It’s only _now_ that it finally sinks in that Donghyuck is literally naked in front of Mark who is about to—

Before another word can make it through his mind, Mark has his mouth on Donghyuck, swallowing him down whole without another thought. 

“What the _hell—”_ Donghyuck groans, strained, hands flying to grip Mark’s hair as he goes at it with unprecedented finesse and skill. “Where did you learn this?” he asks, breathless. “When did you get so _good?”_

Mark licks a stripe up the underside, tonguing at the vein there before settling on his reply. “Never done it before,” he admits with a little shrug. “I knew I didn’t have much of a gag reflex, but…”

Donghyuck never figures out what the end of that sentence was supposed to be because Mark just gives him the most salacious wink before putting his mouth back on him in time with a heavy bass drop in the music.

 _“Fu-uck…”_ He draws out the word, arching his back as Mark hollows out his cheeks around him. All he can think is that Mark _has_ to be lying. There’s absolutely no way that someone can be _this good_ at sucking dick with no practice.

Or, he thinks that until he comes to the heady realization that this is _Mark Lee,_ who’s effortlessly good at just about everything, who can breathe in the direction of something and be proficient at it by the next day — except for wakeboarding because the whatever higher powers are out there had to give this man one flaw and decided that it would be the eternal curse of not being able to get up on a wakeboard for more than a few seconds at a time before wiping out spectacularly.

Mark pulls off a bit to suckle at the tip, pressing his tongue just below the head, and Donghyuck has to use every ounce of willpower not to come right then and there.

“Fuck, Mark, I’m gonna—”

“Mmf,” Mark urges him on, mouth still stuffed full of Donghyuck’s length, using one hand to encircle what he can’t quite reach and the other gripping onto his thigh hard enough to leave bruises.

“No,” Donghyuck whines, cupping Mark’s jaw to pull him off with a slick popping sound. Mark pouts at that as he watches Donghyuck’s cock drop down to the crease of his thigh, red and wet and hard, expression much more forlorn than it has any right to be.

“Why’d you stop?” He meets Donghyuck’s shaky gaze, eyes wide and a little glossy.

“I can’t come before I fuck you, Mark,” Donghyuck wheezes, catching his breath. “You might have two rounds in you tonight, but I don’t think I do.”

“Fine,” Mark sighs, unable to hide the way his smile grows. Donghyuck can nearly see the idea forming in his mind before he even says it. “Help me get undressed then?” he invites, grinning.

In the blink of an eye, Donghyuck has flipped their positions: Mark lying flat on the bed and Donghyuck kneeling between his spread legs. Mark lifts his hips so Donghyuck can work the jeans and briefs down his legs at once, uncaring of the way they turn inside out when the cuffs catch at Mark’s ankles. Donghyuck scrunches his nose, yanking them the rest of the way off and tossing them in the general direction of where Mark had put Donghyuck’s not too long ago.

And he stops short.

Sure, he’s seen Mark naked before, but it’s been accidental, little glimpses here and there, but this… this is different. Having Mark splayed out before him in all his bare glory, and Donghyuck able to run his hands over the hard planes of muscle, coiled with tension just beneath soft, bruisable skin, is a near-religious experience. 

“Holy shit,” Donghyuck breathes, ogling at the sight in front of him, unashamed as his vision travels down to where he hasn’t been allowed before. He whistles. “I can see why you top.”

Dicks, by nature, aren’t really pretty, but leave it to Mark to change that. It’s a dark pink, glistening head already leaking onto his stomach, a slight curve to it, and it’s _big._ Donghyuck’s reasonably sure that Mark’s bigger than he is, and it’s not like Donghyuck is lacking by any circumstance.

Mark giggles weirdly. “Shut up.”

“It’s a compliment!” Donghyuck defends.

“It’s a _weird_ compliment.” Mark wrinkles his nose in distaste.

“You have a big dick, Mark,” Donghyuck tells him, deadpan. “Be proud.”

“Shut the fuck up, Donghyuck,” he groans. He reaches up to dig his fingers into Donghyuck’s hair, dragging him down for another kiss now that they’re both completely bare and pressed up against each other, every inch of heated skin meeting its match.

“Hey, Mark?” Donghyuck pulls back suddenly, and Mark looks at him, curious, but not worried. “If you ever want to stop, just let me know and we’ll put on pajamas and watch Netflix, okay? No hard feelings. I just want you to feel safe and comfortable.”

The way Mark softens, the hard darkness in his eyes easing up to a light twinkle as he tugs Donghyuck down into another achingly sweet kiss, has the entire world going technicolor and fuzzy and Donghyuck feels like he’s fucking _flying._

“You dumbass,” he murmurs against his lips in reply. _“You_ make me feel safe. But… can we do the PJs and Netflix thing after?”

“Of course.” Donghyuck grins into the kiss. “I’ll even let you watch whatever show you want without complaining.”

“You don’t hate my shows nearly as much as you let on,” Mark giggles breathlessly, trailing his lips across Donghyuck’s jaw until he bites down right at the hinge, making Donghyuck gasp. 

Mark’s so fucking _good_ at this — at shattering Donghyuck into pieces of himself with no more than his mouth — and it makes Donghyuck wonder just how much experience he’s had. The thought makes his stomach burn with something unpleasant, but he drowns that in the sweetness of Mark’s lips, still tasting the milkshake on his tongue when it meets his own.

“Wait,” Donghyuck gasps, pulling back. “Just promise me that if you ever want to stop or take a break, you have to tell me, and we will. I don’t wanna push you—”

Mark just tangles his fingers in Donghyuck’s hair and yanks him back down harder this time, reuniting them in a kiss with a bruising force that has Donghyuck’s arms shaking from trying to hold himself up over Mark.

“Shut the fuck up,” Mark whispers, his words a mere whisper of a breath. “I trust you to take care of me, but will you just _fuck me already?”_

“You’re so impatient,” Donghyuck scolds, rolling his hips down against Mark’s. “Would it kill you to wait for just a moment?”

“Yeah,” Mark wheezes out, chasing the friction that Donghyuck gives. “Yeah, I think it might.”

Donghyuck throws his head back at that and laughs, which makes Mark hit him in the chest so hard he nearly falls off the bed. Mark’s failing at hiding the smile on his lips though, so Donghyuck takes it as a win as he reconnects his lips to Mark’s skin. This time, though, he trails down the long column of Mark’s neck, scooting down the bed as he continues to deposit kisses down the hard lines and soft curves that make up the expanse of Mark’s body.

He relishes in the way Mark trebles underneath him, his muscles jumping with each new part of skin that Donghyuck’s lips ghost over, adoring the tiny little noises that fill the room when Donghyuck leaves a particularly harsh kiss somewhere sensitive. He takes his time exploring every inch of Mark’s body, familiarizing himself with the dips and the crevices and the little patterns his moles make, and every little imperfection — he cherishes it all, and if Donghyuck wasn’t in love before all of this started, he sure as hell is now. 

When he gets low enough, he completely bypasses Mark’s flushed cock that lays leaking on his abdomen in favor of grazing his teeth along the _v_ that Mark’s jutted hips form. Donghyuck sucks a hickey in the juncture between his hip and his thigh, and Mark’s breath hitches so audibly that it makes Donghyuck stifle a chuckle into the soft skin beneath his lips.

“Hey,” Donghyuck starts, peeking up. “Can I eat you out?”

Mark absolutely _whines_ at that, a flush decorating from the tips of his ears, all the way down to the hollows of his collarbone as he throws his arm over his face to hide in the crook of his elbow.

 _“Ma-ark,”_ Donghyuck singsongs, loving the reactions he can pull out of him like this. “I need to know.”

It takes Mark a moment to collect himself, swallowing down his incomprehensible — but devastatingly _hot_ — noises, replacing them with actual words that Donghyuck can make out.

“I— I’m nervous about that,” Mark admits. “I’ve never even done it to anyone before and I’m just not sure.”

“That’s perfectly okay,” Donghyuck reassures, his lips pillowed against the inside of Mark’s thigh. “Thank you for being honest.”

“Next time, could we?” Mark blurts out, and Donghyuck startles. He’d been under the impression this is a one-night-only kind of special deal, that getting the chance to get Mark in his bed like this, all spread out and naked and panting, wasn’t just a once in a lifetime chance. He’d never considered the option that Mark would be open to fucking on the regular. Which, by the way, Donghyuck is _more than down_ with the possibility of.

“Oh?” He raises an eyebrow, moving up from where he’d been tucked neatly between Mark’s legs, crawling slowly back up his body. “This is implying that you want a next time? When we haven’t even done anything yet?”

Mark, if at all possible, blushes an even deeper crimson, his voice softening as the nerves get the best of him. Donghyuck coos, stroking his jawline with a finger to coax the words out of him.

“I just kind of thought that maybe we could… and in your offer you said…”

Donghyuck is already tugging Mark’s elbow away from his face before the words can fade from his pretty lips, leaning up to plant a gentle kiss square on his mouth — one that Mark positively melts under.

“I, personally, would love a next time,” Donghyuck says with another kiss. “And a time after that.” Another kiss. “And a time after _that.”_ Another kiss, but Mark holds him down this time, humming happily into it until both of them need to breathe. Donghyuck pulls back with a bright giggle that Mark eagerly returns, tension fading out of his body, softening it under Donghyuck’s hands.

He presses a quick kiss to Mark’s nose before sitting back upright and snatching one of the pillows from near Mark’s head, lifting Mark’s hips enough to place it under them.

“What’s that for?” Mark asks, shifting his weight around to get comfortable in the new position.

“Convenience.” Donghyuck shrugs, reaching over to grab the lube from inside the drawer of his bedside table. “Just trust me on this.”

“I just feel like I’m at a chiropractor right now… with those foam blocks they use to straighten out your spine, y’know?” Mark laughs a little bit, but the way his fingers dig into the sheets give away his nerves.

“I’m not about to adjust your spine, Markie,” Donghyuck says, raising an eyebrow. “I’m about to rearrange your guts.”

Mark punches him in the arm for that with surprising force, but it gets a more genuine laugh to spill from his lips all of a sudden, so Donghyuck counts it as a net win. He grins, watching Mark’s muscles jump in anticipation instead of anxiety when he flicks the bottle open with a crisp click. Drizzling a copious amount on his index finger, he looks down at Mark from his kneeling position between his gorgeous spread thighs.

“So, you’ve done this before with one finger, right?” Donghyuck rubs the viscous liquid between his thumb and index finger to warm it up as he speaks, keeping Mark distracted.

“Mhmm,” he hums, nodding, pointedly looking at a spot just above Donghyuck’s head so he doesn’t have to make eye contact or see Donghyuck’s hands, “but it wasn’t that great.”

“Let’s change that for you then, hmm?” With a self-satisfied grin, Donghyuck presses the pad of his index finger to Mark’s rim, watching in poorly-hidden delight at the way Mark gasps, hands already clutching the sheets. “You ready?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” Mark replies, voice a lot more even than expected. Donghyuck considers it a personal challenge to fix that.

Without any further delay, Donghyuck slips the first finger inside. To his amazement, it’s a pretty easy slide, at least in comparison to how Donghyuck expected. Mark clenches down to begin, fighting the intrusion, but the gentle circles being rubbed into his thigh and the even softer coaxing whispered words get him to relax until Donghyuck’s palm makes contact with Mark’s perineum, finger sunk to the hilt.

“Woah,” Donghyuck breathes, unable to stop himself. “You sucked me right in.”

Mark doesn’t even have the words to rebuke Donghyuck’s teasing, so he throws an elbow over his face to try and hide the steadily growing blush. It doesn’t work because Donghyuck can see it creep down his neck and splotch onto his upper chest, but he lets Mark think it does to spare him just a bit of embarrassment.

He instead focuses on working his finger in and out, monitoring every signal that Mark gives him: half-hidden, flushed cheeks, quickened breathing, teeth digging into his lip to keep the noises at bay which Donghyuck’s having none of.

Leaning down, he uses his free hand to untuck Mark’s face from the crook of his elbow just far enough to kiss him. It’s enough to make Mark mellow out again and Donghyuck takes the chance to gently pry Mark’s lip away from his teeth before pulling back. Mark blinks up at him, eyes wide and shining and filled with nothing but trust. Donghyuck sort of wants to cry at how pretty he is.

“Hey, I’m gonna need to hear you, okay?” Donghyuck whispers. “I want to hear every sound you have to give me, mkay? I wanna hear every pretty little word and moan.”

Mark nods tentatively, turning his head to the side to half-bury his blush into the pillow, but keeps his promise once Donghyuck starts to move his finger again. The noises are small, almost shy, at first, but Donghyuck’s confident that it won’t stay that way.

“Can I add another one?” Donghyuck asks, using his free hand to stroke across Mark’s abdomen.

“Yeah,” Mark breathes.

Donghyuck grins, leaning down to press a line of kisses across Mark’s hip as he lubes up a second finger, gingerly working it in next to the first. Mark chokes on the moan he starts to let out as Donghyuck crooks his fingers _just right,_ pressing down hard.

Mark arches off the bed, grinding down onto Donghyuck’s fingers in the process with an uninhibited cry, hands flying out to fist the sheets, wrinkling them irreparably between his white-knuckled fingers. Donghyuck eases up on the pressure, but it does nothing to change the grin on his face.

“What the _hell,”_ Mark breathes, eyes squeezed shut.

“That, my dear Mark, is your prostate,” Donghyuck explains, deliberately avoiding hitting it again just to tease. “Rather sensitive, isn’t it?”

“You are _such_ an asshole,” Mark grits out, opening his eyes to squint at Donghyuck. “I know _what_ it is, I’ve just… never felt that before.”

“Hmm,” Donghyuck hums, pressing a kiss to the tip of Mark’s nose. “Good, though?”

“Very,” Mark barely gets the chance to agree before his eyes close again and he lets Donghyuck continue to work him open, this time brushing against it with every few strokes just to see Mark whine.

It’s warm and wet inside of Mark, every movement drawing the most drastic of reactions out of him. If this is what Mark’s like with just a couple fingers, Donghyuck wonders how he’s going to react once he has something bigger than just a couple of fingers in him. It’ll be a very pretty picture, at the very least, and Donghyuck can’t wait to have it etched in his mind.

“One more?” Donghyuck asks, ignoring how his wrist is on the verge of cramping like this. This is about Mark, and Donghyuck would voluntarily give himself carpal tunnel before he made this anything less than the best experience for him. It’s the very least that he deserves.

Mark hums, eyes closed again, but doesn’t give a verbal response. Donghyuck falters, taking in Mark like this: glistening skin, clenched fingers, pinkened cheeks, all bared for Donghyuck’s taking. He’s beautiful, and all Donghyuck wants is for Mark to _know_ just how beautiful he is. 

“I need a verbal response, sweetheart,” Donghyuck says, teasing the pad of his ring finger around Mark’s stretched rim.

“Yes, please,” Mark pleads, furrowing his brows as he looks up at Donghyuck.

“So polite,” Donghyuck teases, which earns him a whack on the arm. It’s deserved, if he’s being honest, but Mark doesn’t put up any more of a fight when Donghyuck works another finger into him gently, stroking at his walls and further coaxing Mark open. 

He’s methodical about the way he has Mark falling apart with just a few fingers working him over, watching him writhe in a kind of pleasure that Mark’s experiencing for the first time by Donghyuck’s own hand. It’s invigorating, knowing that Donghyuck can do this to him, that Donghyuck’s _allowed_ to do this to him.

But then a stray thought hits him and proceeds to wrap around his entire mind, squeezing his insides until he can’t breathe.

Is he taking advantage of Mark like this? Is it wrong, what he’s doing? Should he be hiding his feelings from Mark when Mark chose to trust Donghyuck with so much? Will Mark regret this in the morning? What if Donghyuck isn’t enough? What—

“Hyuck, hey,” Mark rasps, and Donghyuck blinks hard. His vision comes back into focus — when did it go _out_ of focus? — to see Mark sitting up in front of him, cupping his cheeks with almost unprecedented tenderness. Mark smiles when Donghyuck meets his eyes. “I lost you there for a moment.”

“Ah, y-yeah.” Donghyuck stumbles over his words. “Hey, Mark?” A hum in reply, but Mark’s gaze never strays from his own. “Are you— is this okay? Are you, like, sure? You know, with this? And the fact that it’s me? Because—”

“Donghyuck.” Mark’s voice takes on a tinge of seriousness that it rarely ever has. It works like magic to snap Donghyuck out of his downward spiral. “Whatever you’re thinking, it’s not what I’m thinking. I _want_ this to be with you, Hyuck. I don’t want this to be with anyone but you.” Mark grins. “When are you going to get that through your thick skull?”

Donghyuck is suddenly very aware of how he’s three fingers deep in Mark while having this conversation, but he’s reasonably sure it would be more weird to take them out at this point.

“Are you sure?” Donghyuck tests carefully.

Mark nods sincerely. “I’d bet every one of my championship titles on it.”

“Okay big swimmer boy,” Donghyuck laughs, and whatever tension had entered the room during that dissipates into the heat of the air and the low synth that vibrates through every breath Donghyuck takes in. He pushes Mark’s chest gently as he chuckles: a very flimsy excuse to let his hand linger over Mark’s defined pecs. “You ready for this?”

“Never been more ready in my life.” Mark pauses, a cheeky smile on his face before he clenches down on Donghyuck’s fingers. “Quite literally.”

“So help me I _won’t_ fuck you,” Donghyuck threatens, but there’s nothing behind it and they both know it. Mark gives a disbelieving snort and tugs Donghyuck back in for another kiss, whining into his mouth as Donghyuck takes his fingers out carefully.

He reaches over to the nightstand, feeling around haphazardly until his fingers brush across the little foil packet he was looking for. Mark giggles — honest-to-god _giggles_ — as Donghyuck bumps the alarm clock off the nightstand in his haste, but it doesn’t mean much because neither of them make a move to go pick it up. Instead, Mark’s earnest attention is completely on Donghyuck’s hands as he tears the condom open and rolls it on himself, shivering a little when Donghyuck takes a trail of excess lube from Mark’s skin and slicks his length with it.

The tip nudges at Mark’s rim as Donghyuck glances up to see Mark’s eyes already squeezed shut, bottom lip going white where it’s trapped between his teeth. He’s bracing himself, not necessarily scared so much as just preparing for the worst, and tensing up in the process.

“Mark,” Donghyuck murmurs, stroking up his sides gently. “You gotta relax for me, mkay?”

Mark nods stiffly, but unclenches enough for Donghyuck to push in the first bit. He tenses up again after just a moment and Donghyuck pauses with a barely-contained sigh. At the very least, it doesn’t seem to be _hurting_ Mark, more just weirding him out a little. It’s a slow process to get fully seated in Mark, every inch finally encased in _hot_ and _slick_ and _tight._ Mark’s chest is heaving under Donghyuck’s spread palm, pulse racing where Donghyuck has bent down to suck a bruise atop his carotid artery. 

When his hips finally meet Mark’s pelvis, the air seems to return to the room and Donghyuck gasps in tandem with Mark, straightening up so he can get a better look at things. Or, in other, less refined words, gaze at Mark’s already blissed-out expression.

He’s so pretty it’s really not fair: his long lashes brushing his upper cheeks, wavy hair falling across his forehead, lips just barely parted, skin pinkened with a blush under the glistening sweat. Mark’s eyes flutter open, brows furrowing in question, and it’s only _now_ that Donghyuck realizes he has no idea how long he’s just been sitting there, staring at Mark without moving. Mark seems to realize this, too.

“No, don’t look at me,” he whines, covering up his face with trembling hands.

“Why?” Donghyuck asks, genuinely curious. He rubs a thumb over the inside of Mark’s knee absently, feeling over the ridges of bone beneath the smooth skin.

Mark peeks through his fingers, mumbling, “I’m breaking out right now.”

Donghyuck laughs, and quickly discovers that it feels weird to laugh while his dick is inside someone who is also laughing. He ignores the stimulation of the low vibrations as best he can, moving Mark’s hands out of the way to kiss all over his face. Mark pouts, and Donghyuck kisses that, too.

“You’re so fucking cute, dude, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Mark makes this little indignant sound in the back of his throat. “Don’t call me dude while your dick is in me!”

“Sorry.”

Donghyuck, however, is not the least bit sorry.

Unfortunately, Mark knows him well enough to be able to tell that there’s no remorse behind the stupid grin on his face, so he pinches Donghyuck’s thigh in retaliation. Donghyuck doesn’t care because when he takes the chance to rock back out a bit and push all the way in again, Mark loses all coordination over his limbs, a cry catching in the back of his throat as his hands flail at his sides, grasping for anything.

In the end, the fingers of one of Mark’s hands curl in the spaces between Donghyuck’s own while the other hand finds home buried in the dinosaur sheets, nails scratching at a little blue triceratops. Donghyuck stops moving, using up every ounce of his willpower to not just bury himself in Mark over and over again until every muscle in his body gives out. He’ll make himself wait for Mark’s signal — this _is_ about him, after all, and Donghyuck’s a little ashamed that he let himself forget it.

Donghyuck reaches up with the hand that isn’t laced with Mark’s own to caress the side of Mark’s face, running a thumb across the crease that formed between his eyebrows until it smooths out and Mark blinks his eyes open. 

“Hey,” Donghyuck greets with a smile. “You good?”

“Mhmm,” Mark hums, strained, but the nod he gives carries enough conviction to make up for the lack of it in his voice. “You can move.”

“Are you sure?”

“Hyuck, I’m not going to break,” Mark laughs, a little breathless. “Now please just _fuck me.”_

He punctuates the end of his sentence with a clench that has Donghyuck groaning, squeezing Mark’s hand a little tighter to keep himself grounded. It’s slow to start, but Mark seems to _like_ it like that: slow and sweet, something that Donghyuck would almost pin as romantic if he didn’t know any better. 

Rolling his hips gently, he coaxes Mark to relax bit by bit so the slide is smoother and easier. Mark’s halfway gone to the world as Donghyuck fucks him deep, pressing him further into the mattress with every thrust, amping up the pace just a little. He shifts on the bed a little, his arms getting tired — and who can blame him? He plays a leg sport, not an arm one, after all — and Mark’s eyes fly open, a thin, greedy sound peeling out of his throat with no warning.

Donghyuck grins. Jackpot.

Without shifting any further, he aims for that spot again and again. Mark seems to be thoroughly enjoying himself with how things are, despite the slowly worsening blush creeping up to his ears after the whine that he let out.

“The music was supposed to cover that up,” Mark complains and all Donghyuck can do is laugh and press a kiss to his nose. 

“Points for effort,” he replies, and all else falls to silence and Donghyuck’s hips move in time with the beat of the new song, quickening his pace to keep with the beat. Mark snorts when he notices, but can’t get any words out before Donghyuck makes it his singular mission to drive Mark absolutely fucking insane, apparently. Mark’s free hand has switched from digging its nails into dinosaurs to Donghyuck’s scapula, raking what will surely be painful-looking red lines down his back just to ground himself.

Donghyuck drives continuously into Mark’s prostate. It’s not a super comfortable position for Donghyuck to be staying in, but it’s making Mark feel good — or at least as far as he can tell with the way Mark’s moaning and nearly writhing beneath him, fingers curling around Donghyuck’s shoulder to latch on.

It’s not like either of them are going to last long, anyway. This has been building up for too long, the heat coiling in Donghyuck’s gut edging on the cusp of unbearable. But he can't come. Not yet. Not until Mark has.

His thighs are trembling and he knows that his abs are going to burn if he tries to do so much as _sit up_ tomorrow, but that all falls to the wayside in the moment in favor of chasing the temporary pleasure on both of their behalves. 

“Donghyuck—” Mark chokes out a sob. “I’m close, I’m so close.”

He can’t even give Mark a verbal acknowledgement, too busy sucking bruises onto his chest — and sucking in deep breaths when he’s not — but it doesn’t take a genius to figure out what Mark needs. Donghyuck gets a hand around Mark’s length, trapped between them, and jerks him off in time with his thrusts. Mark gasps, eyes so wide and glossy that Donghyuck’s half-sure he can see his own reflection in them.

“Hyuck—” Mark cries. “I’m— I’ve gotta—”

“C’mon, Mark. Come for me, baby,” Donghyuck pants, and the reaction is so immediate that it startles him, hips stuttering as Mark comes hard. It splatters across their chests, a bit catching at the bottom of Mark’s chin as his back arches into the sensation, Donghyuck working him through the whole thing. Donghyuck grimaces at the feeling of it covering his hand, but that’s quickly negated by his own oncoming orgasm.

It kind of hits sideways out of nowhere, making him collapse over Mark, moaning only moderately obscenely as he buries himself in Mark once more to the hilt and comes into the condom.

They stay there like that for a moment, but Mark’s clearly uncomfortable — Donghyuck can’t blame him — so he slides out as gingerly as he can. He takes the condom off, and decides that he’s eternally thankful to Mark’s weird habit of having a garbage can right next to his bed because he can just tie it off and toss it in there without having to get up. It only _now_ sparks the question as to why, exactly, Mark has it there, but Donghyuck’s not a position to question it nor is Mark in one to answer.

His eyes are closed again, chest heaving as he continues to try and catch his breath. There’s still sweat rolling off his skin, soaking into the dinosaur sheets that are _definitely_ going to have to be laundered after this. Between the come and the sweat and lube and saliva that’s managed to get everywhere, it’s kind of disgusting.

“Mark?” Donghyuck asks eventually, all-too aware of how it’s not silent in the room even though neither of them are speaking.

“Hmm?” Mark cracks an eye open.

“Can you turn the fucking music off now?”

That startles a laugh out of Mark, jolting him so much that he nearly falls off the bed, making Donghyuck tumble after him because they’re still holding hands — _still holding hands!_ Mark flexes his fingers around Donghyuck’s and uses the grip to pull him closer, closer, until Mark’s halfway resting on top of Donghyuck’s chest.

“So…” Donghyuck starts, pressing a kiss to Mark’s hair after Mark has finished yelling at his phone’s voice assist to pause the music. “About that next time…?”

“Oh, shut the hell up.” Mark swats at him tiredly, closing his eyes again. “Let me recover from this round and then we can discuss the next one.”

“Twenty minutes, then?” Donghyuck teases.

“Weren’t you the one complaining about not being able to go twice tonight?” Mark gripes, but there’s no real frustration behind it.

“How about a couple of hours?”

“Not until tomorrow at the absolute earliest,” Mark shuts him down, nuzzling into Donghyuck’s throat to leave a small kiss there.

Donghyuck laughs, carding his fingers through Mark’s hair slowly, trying really hard not to think about the slowly drying mess stuck between them, but ultimately it wins out for both of them.

“I feel gross,” Mark murmurs.

“I wonder why,” Donghyuck says pointedly. “Alright, let’s clean up.”

Mark whines, exaggerated, burying his face further into the crook of Donghyuck’s neck. “I’m in _pain,”_ he groans. “You go clean us up.”

Donghyuck sighs, but extracts himself from Mark’s grip anyway. “You are so fucking lucky you are cute, dude.”

“You love me,” Mark shoots back. Donghyuck hates how solidly he hit the nail on the head with _that one._ “And what did we say about the whole ‘dude’ thing?”

“My dick isn’t in you, I can call you whatever I want.”

“Don’t you dare—”

“Be back in a jiffy, sugarbear!”

 _“Don’t ever call me that again or so help me, Donghyuck Lee, you will never see the light of day ever again!”_ Mark screeches after him as Donghyuck makes his grand escape out of Mark’s radius of reach, nearly falling over as he hops out of the bed.

“You sound like your mother,” Donghyuck teases. Mark throws the bottle of lube at him, but Donghyuck dodges. He roots through Mark’s dresser drawers until he comes up with what he’s looking for: an old pair of sweatpants with some swim team logo on them that Donghyuck probably wears more often than Mark actually does.

Mark flips him off as Donghyuck makes his way to the bathroom, and Donghyuck tosses back an angelic smile in response. He would’ve thrown another nickname out if he wasn’t actually a little bit afraid of what Mark might do to him when he gets back.

As he waits for the water from the sink to get warm, he scrounges around the bathroom until he finally finds Mark’s washcloth sitting on the back of the toilet. After washing his hands, he puts the cloth under the warm water until it’s damp, turns off the tap, and warily trudges back into Mark’s bedroom. The sight that greets him when he pokes his head back in is enough to make his heart nearly burst out of his chest.

Mark looks like a goddamn _Renaissance painting,_ if Renaissance muses were draped artfully in dinosaur-print sheets instead of colorful silks and other rich fabrics that aren’t 70% cotton and from the clearance section and decorated in cartoon dinosaurs. His point is that Mark looks gorgeous, all splayed out, miles of naked skin turned to gold in the low light of the streetlamps down below the window outside. He’s relaxed in a way Donghyuck almost never sees him, no tense lines or rigid edges anywhere in sight, only soft curves and smooth planes. 

It’s not a sight that Donghyuck ever thought he would get to see, but he has to admit; he wouldn’t mind seeing more often in the slightest. He sits down on the side of the bed, gently running the cloth across the mess that still decorates Mark’s skin.

Not even Doja Cat is here to cover up the suffocating silence between them anymore. Donghyuck’s tempted to turn the music back on until he realizes that Mark will just make fun of him for it.

“So…” Donghyuck clears his throat, trying to rid the space between them of the quiet that chokes it. “What's the consensus?”

“The sex?” Mark snorts, turning his face to Donghyuck despite his eyes still being closed. “Do you want me to rate you or something?”

“Sure, go for it.”

Mark hums, considering for a moment before he cracks an eye open. “Seven out of ten.”

 _“What?”_ Donghyuck gasps, genuinely offended. “Seven? That's it? C’mon that was at _least_ a nine-point-five. At _least.”_

“Solid performance, but there's room for improvement.” Mark grins. “Both in actions and in attitude. Especially in post. Points were deducted accordingly.”

“You’re the worst, you know that?” Donghyuck flicks Mark’s leg, making him flinch away playfully. “Maybe I just _won’t_ fuck you again.”

He’s completely joking when he says it, but the way Mark’s expression drops and his eyes go wide tell him that Mark took it completely seriously.

“Wait, no, no, Hyuck, I was just kidding, come on,” he pleads, raising himself up onto his elbows. 

He’s pouting now.

Donghyuck is such a weak man.

Laughing, he rubs a thumb over Mark’s knee comfortingly. “And so was I.” Mark seems to relax at this, slumping back down so his back meets the sheets with a sigh. Donghyuck can't help adding, “Didn’t know you were so eager, though.”

Mark really _does_ shove Donghyuck off the bed for that.

“I’m kicking you out!” Mark declares, pulling up the blankets to his nose but still failing to cover the blush on his cheeks that’s visible even in the low light. Donghyuck, too busy laughing from his sprawled-out position on the floor, can’t even bring himself to tease him about it.

“How am I gonna fuck you from the other room?” Donghyuck cackles, earning himself a well-aimed and well-deserved pillow to the face. “Okay! Okay! I’m done! Mercy, Mark!”

Mark, already poised to throw his other pillow, pauses in his wind-up with a suspicious squint. “You’d better be, or I really _will_ kick you out.”

“Right, right,” Donghyuck replies, disbelieving. “You can kick me out after I change your sheets for your majesty because I am _not_ sleeping in this mess.”

“Yeah, yeah, fine, just let me put on some pants,” Mark groans, sliding his legs off the side of the bed. He stands unsteadily, wincing. “I knew there had to be a downside. It was too good to not have some caveat.”

Donghyuck just laughs, shaking his head. He busies himself with stripping the bed while Mark limps out of his bedroom, presumably to the bathroom. Despite not having spent much time in Mark’s room, it takes him all of thirty seconds to figure out where his spare sheet set is: on the top shelf of his closet. He tries really hard not to find it too amusing that this one is dark blue with little planets and stars as he puts it back on the bed, tossing the dinosaurs to the side to be dealt with in the morning.

“Oh, Donghyuck, the sheets are—” Mark cuts himself off as he enters the room, tugging a hoodie over his head. “Nevermind then.”

It takes Donghyuck a second to recognize it as _his_ hoodie, freshly stolen from the clean pile of laundry that he knows is still on his bed. It’s one of his favorites. Mark looks good in it. Of course Mark looks good in it. This is so stupid.

“I think I like the dinosaurs more,” Donghyuck says, pulling the duvet back on the bed as he bends over to toss the pillows back on. Mark scowls at him as he stumbles into the bed. Donghyuck hates how he notes that Mark’s also wearing a pair of _Donghyuck’s_ boxer briefs. Mark clearly doesn’t know what he does to him.

“I can still kick you out, you know,” Mark points out, grumbling.

“But you won’t.”

“And why is that?”

“Because I just changed your sheets _and_ I didn’t make fun of them.”

Mark giggles tiredly. “Fair enough. C’mere.” He lifts up the duvet, but frowns when Donghyuck hesitates. “What’s up?”

“Are you sure it’s okay if I stay here tonight?” Donghyuck asks softly. “My room’s literally just across the hall and I know how you are about your personal space, so I don’t wanna intrude any more than I already have.”

“You’re not intruding,” Mark says a little too quickly. Donghyuck looks at him, skeptical. “I thought the plan was PJs and Netflix…?”

“If you insist,” Donghyuck concedes, crawling in under the covers next to Mark as he reaches for his laptop in his backpack, resting against the bedside table. “So which season of The Office are we watching?”

“Figured I’d switch it up,” Mark murmurs as he logs in. “Fullmetal Alchemist?”

“Now _that’s_ a show I can get behind.” Donghyuck grins, settling his cheek on Mark’s shoulder as he pulls up their shared Netflix account. “I also expect you to wash this sweatshirt before you give it back.”

“That was _one time,_ Donghyuck!” Mark complains. “When are you going to let that go?”

“Never! My favorite white joggers _still_ have a permanent pizza sauce stain on them because of your negligence!” Donghyuck argues.

Mark snorts. “You’re operating under the false assumption that I’m even going to give this back. I certainly wasn’t going to give the joggers back until _Kunhang_ dropped his pizza on me, okay? It wasn’t even my _fault—”_

“If you don’t give this back, I’m gonna Venmo request eighty bucks from you every day until you get me my own new one.” Donghyuck had to physically bite his tongue to keep from saying that he wouldn’t mind seeing Mark in his sweatshirt more, parading around with Donghyuck’s name emblazoned on his sleeve like that.

“I know.” Mark scratches gently at the base of Donghyuck’s scalp. “Why do you think I stole it?”

“Oh, just shut up and watch,” Donghyuck gripes, but melts into the way Mark’s fingers massage at his neck, at the nostalgia of the show and the warmth of their shared body heat beneath the planet-print sheets.

♠

Donghyuck can’t pinpoint when he drifts off, but when he wakes back up, it’s morning. Or maybe it’s afternoon; he isn’t sure. Sunlight is streaming in through the half-closed blinds where only the weak, residual, flickering light from the streetlamps below had illuminated the room beside the blue glow of the laptop screen.

His body feels sore and compressed, but oddly warm. It takes him a moment to remember where he is and why he has a whole Mark Lee resting on his chest.

He blinks hard, and sure enough, Mark is still there: a leg haphazardly slung over Donghyuck’s hips, arm curled around his middle, breathing hot puffs of air into the hollow of his throat. He’s still blissfully asleep despite it being pretty late into the morning, at the very least. Donghyuck doesn’t know the last time Mark allowed himself to sleep in.

Context of Mark’s exhaustion aside — and Donghyuck’s subsequent hand in it — he’s truly just happy that Mark’s going to wake up well-rested for the first time in god-knows-how-long. He moves to run his fingers through Mark’s hair gently. He doesn’t know how long he just lays there, stroking Mark’s hair and staring at the ceiling, but it doesn’t matter. It’s a weekend. He doesn’t have anywhere to be today, no obligations, nothing else to do but stay in the warm cocoon of Mark’s space-print sheets and wait for him to wake up. The whole day can be dedicated to Mark, if it works out that way. 

He wouldn’t mind that in the slightest.

As if Mark can sense that Donghyuck’s thoughts are drifting to him as their epicenter, he stirs. A wide yawn and a couple of slow blinks later, Mark’s blearily half-awake, humming happily as Donghyuck scratches gently at his scalp. He looks beautiful, which isn’t out of the normal, but Morning Mark is a different kind of beautiful. His hair is a disaster and there’s a little drool crusted at the side of his mouth, but he looks content and relaxed, the tension of the day not having had the chance to set in yet. If Donghyuck could keep him like this forever, he would.

“G’morning, Hyuck,” he murmurs into the bare skin of Donghyuck’s chest.

“Morning, sleepyhead. How’re you feeling?”

“A bit sore, but good.” Mark peeks up at Donghyuck. “Really good.”

“Mm?” Donghyuck hums, raising an eyebrow. Mark’s getting at something here, and as much as Donghyuck’s relatively sure he knows what it is, he needs the confirmation.

“Can we go again?”

“You literally _just_ woke up.”

“Yeah, and?” Mark scowls. “I just woke up next to my really hot best friend who has morning wood and no shirt on. Tell me you _wouldn’t_ immediately jump to that thought if you were me.”

Donghyuck shrugs in understanding. He didn’t even realize he was hard until Mark pointed it out, but now that he’s acutely aware of everything happening below his waist, he can feel Mark’s half-hard cock pressed against his thigh. It’s unfortunate that two layers of clothing are blocking the way.

“You gonna answer or am I just gonna have to get myself off?” Mark huffs, propping his chin up on his hand, elbow digging into the mattress, so he can watch Donghyuck’s every move. 

“Brush your teeth first, then we’ll talk.”

Mark seems to consider this for a moment before rolling out of bed, landing upright with his perky morning-person stance that Donghyuck hates almost as much as he finds it endearing. 

“Alright. It’s a deal.” He’s halfway out the door of the room before he calls back over his shoulder, “Only if you do, too!”

Donghyuck gets out of bed and skids to the bathroom in record time. Mark’s perched on the counter already, squeezing pastel blue paste out onto Donghyuck’s purple brush with a grin. Of course Mark would know he was going to come that fast. Donghyuck accepts the brush with a roll of his eyes, but diligently brushes his teeth anyway. It’s easy to be motivated when standing between one’s best friend’s really nice, muscular, half-exposed thighs.

Ah, right. Donghyuck’s still hard.

Mark notices his train of thought and grins around his own mouthful of toothpaste, nudging the heel of his foot into Donghyuck’s thigh and looking pointedly down at his crotch.

“Shut up,” Donghyuck gurgles out. Mark just grins wider and keeps brushing.

It’s rather satisfying to wipe that grin off his face when they get back into bed, Donghyuck nestling a knee between Mark’s legs as retribution for the teasing because Mark’s just as hard as he is now. Mark just wrinkles his nose and kisses Donghyuck back harder. They’ve lost their clothes again at some point, but Donghyuck couldn’t tell you where or when or how. He’s not exactly complaining that he has Mark like this again, naked and beautiful, splayed out beneath him.

“I wanna try something. You just tell me if it’s too much or if you wanna stop, okay?” Donghyuck pulls back to say.

“Okay,” Mark agrees.

“Flip over for me?” Donghyuck’s mildly surprised when Mark obeys without a second of hesitation. “Good boy,” Donghyuck whispers across the shell of his ear, gripping Mark’s waist a little tighter.

He notes how Mark’s breath hitches with the use of the name and grins. He’ll abuse that later, but for now, he has other plans for his mouth. A kiss pressed to the little mole on the curve of his ass should give Mark enough of a hint of what’s about to happen.

“Oh, are you— _Oh—”_ Mark chokes himself off with a little noise of realization as Donghyuck licks a thick stripe up from his perineum all the way across his hole. 

He eats Mark out until he cries, glistening tears trailing down his cheeks because he doesn’t know how to deal with this brand of pleasure yet, how to ground himself amidst every new sensation that Donghyuck’s so intent upon introducing him to. Donghyuck slips in a couple of fingers next to his tongue, and Mark wails, arching his back into the most perfect curve. There's no music on this time to cover up each and every noise that rips out of Mark's throat involuntarily, and Donghyuck relishes in every single one of them.

“Hyuck— Hyuck, _please,_ I’m so close, so close, I’m gonna, I’ve gotta—” Mark cuts himself off with a cry, tensing up. Donghyuck can feel the muscles of his thighs quivering beneath his palms, but he pulls away, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “No!” Mark sobs, hiccupping in tiny breaths that shake his whole body. “Donghyuck, why?”

“Remember what you said about control?” Donghyuck asks, shifting up to roll his hips against the cleft of Mark’s assk. Mark whines, embarrassed, but nods anyway. “Think of this as an exercise in control. You don’t have any. I do. Now behave.”

“Mkay.” Mark curves his neck around to look at him, and _god,_ he’s so beautiful. “S’okay, you can keep going.”

“Tell me if it—”

“If it ever gets to be too much, I know.” Mark smiles at him, and Donghyuck can’t help but reach up and give him a kiss, despite how disgusting it probably is. Mark doesn’t seem to mind in the slightest, turning to putty beneath Donghyuck’s hands as he responds eagerly, straining his neck to get impossibly closer.

Donghyuck makes good on his promise to take control. The rest of the prep is quick and messy, Mark still relaxed from last night, but this time when Donghyuck fucks him, it’s not nearly as gentle. He presses Mark’s neck down, hauling his hips up with his other hand to take him from behind, sheets tangled between their legs. He leaves Mark brainless and with no other desire than to bend to every command and movement Donghyuck guides him with.

It’s exhilarating, Donghyuck notes. Not necessarily to see Mark _reduced_ to this, so much as to see Mark so relaxed and pliant under every touch and word. The knowledge that Donghyuck alone is the only one to have seen Mark like this honestly is enough to almost get him off within itself.

The sex itself is no less loving, though, and Donghyuck takes care to remind Mark of that. Between the sweet praises and soft kisses pressed along every free inch of skin, the palms smoothing across the broad expanse of Mark’s back, admiring the curve of his spine and the muscles planes shifting and twitching under his fingertips as he continues to drive Mark further into the sheets, he never once lets Mark forget what being able to do this means for him— means for _them._

Mark’s next whine comes out a lot needier than the other ones, if that’s even possible. Half-muffled by the pillow but still high and thin and so, _so,_ sweet. Donghyuck knows he’s close, and when Mark peeks back to look at him, pleading words spilling sloppily off of his tongue, Donghyuck can’t find it within himself to say no.

He laces their fingers together, kissing the back of Mark’s neck.

“Let go for me, baby.”

Mark comes first with a cry, Donghyuck’s hand wrapped around his dick to ride him through it. His thighs tremble with overexertion, but his hips still work back against Donghyuck’s own, diligent but desperate, wanting more despite the oversensitivity settling in. It’s not long after that Donghyuck comes, Mark chanting his name in a rough whisper doing him in.

Somewhere in the midst of all that, their hands found their way together again, matching bracelets knocking against each other where their wrists press together. It looks _right_ in a way that Donghyuck can’t quite describe, and he slumps back onto the bed with that thought in mind.

Mark shuffles up and flops down onto Donghyuck’s chest again, the position reminiscent of the way they woke up. 

“M’tired. Was nice, though,” Mark murmurs, squeezing their joined hands together. Donghyuck can only in agreement, squeezing back.

Donghyuck dozes off again, a product of both the physical and the emotional exhaustion from going two rounds with the best friend he’s not really supposed to have feelings for but does anyway. When he blinks his eyes open, the sun is a little more golden than white, and Mark’s already awake, drawing little patterns into Donghyuck’s bare skin.

He notes that he’s been cleaned up, and Mark now has Donghyuck’s hoodie back on. He’s curious about how long he was sleeping, but he also doesn’t really care enough to ask. If it was important, Mark would say so, but he seems to have something else on his mind with the way his brow is furrowed and his lower lip is caught between his teeth.

“What’s wrong, Mark?” It’s a miracle his voice doesn’t crack, and Mark startles a little when he hears it.

“You know how at the beginning of all this, you asked me what I like during sex?” Mark asks quietly, playing with the little red bracelet hanging on Donghyuck’s wrist. He isn’t making eye contact. “I think I finally have an answer.”

“Oh?” Donghyuck twists to look at him better, but only succeeding in tangling himself further into the sheets. “Do you wanna try something next time? Because I’m down for pretty much whatever. Actually, on second thought there are some lines that I won’t cross like—”

“It’s you!” Mark blurts out, and then his eyes widen as he realizes exactly what he’s said. But he steels himself, stands his ground and doesn’t take it back. 

Donghyuck blinks, the words taking a moment to sink in. He can’t mean it in _that_ way…. can he?

“What?”

“I like you during sex. I like you any time… I just like _you,_ Donghyuck,” Mark says, his voice cracking at the end, confidence crumbling more and more as each second goes by without a reply. “You’ve gotta say something, Hyuck, come on.”

Donghyuck can see Mark’s world falling apart in his eyes: the idea that his best friend now hates him, the idea that he’s lost him, that he’s fucked up irreparably just by wanting to have sex. His thoughts spiral out of control. Donghyuck knows this because everything he sees in Mark’s eyes reflect the fears that Donghyuck’s been battling since the start of this, and that’s how he knows it’s genuine.

But that doesn’t make it easy to wrap his head around.

“Me…?” Donghyuck asks slowly, pointing to himself as Mark’s breathing picks up, pulse thundering through his body so rapidly that Donghyuck can feel it where their hands are entwined. “Are— are you _sure?_ I don’t know if you’re thinking straight—”

“I’m in the right mind, Donghyuck, I know what I’m saying,” Mark interrupts. “I like you a lot. I have for a while, I think, and I asked you this favor because you’re the only person I trust with not only my body but my heart as well, so please, for my sake, even if you choose to turn me down, _please_ choose your next words carefully.”

Donghyuck opens and closes his mouth a few times, thoughts running a million miles a minute.

“Mark…” he starts, breathless all of a sudden. “I’ve had a crush on your lame ass since freshman year of _high school._ Remember when Sungchan kicked a soccer ball at you by accident and blamed it on me?”

Mark nods slowly, processing. “Yeah, and I gave it back— Wait that was _Sungchan_ who kicked that? I always thought—”

“You and your stupid grin and your stupid sparkly eyes and your _stupid adorable laughter_ came and gave it back to me with a promise to show me around campus if I stopped kicking things at you. I just— fucking _hell,_ Mark Lee, you’re a wonder of this world.”

“Oh,” Mark says after a moment, panic no longer taking over his expression.

“Uh, yeah.” Donghyuck looks down at their fingers, still interlocked. “What next, then?”

There’s silence for another moment.

“Then you ask me to be your boyfriend before I beat you to it,” Mark suggests, and Donghyuck can _hear_ the smile on his face before he looks up to see it. 

“Square deal. Be my boyfriend, Mark Lee?”

“Only if you’ll be mine.”

“Isn’t that kind of _implied_ with the whole—”

“Shut up.”

And shut up he does, as Mark brings their lips to meet once again.

**Author's Note:**

> i love how you can tell i didn't have anyone beta this bc my overuse of commas really popped off
> 
> also someone tell me to shut the fuck up about the dinosaur print sheets it's not that funny to anyone else but me


End file.
